File photo
File photo
Harris County is suing the federal government over the 2020 U.S. Census, with Vince Ryan filing the lawsuit on behalf of the county.
“This lawsuit challenges the unconstitutional and illegal decision by federal officials to sacrifice the accuracy of the 2020 Census by forcing the Census Bureau to compress eight and a half months of vital data-collection and data-processing into four and a half months,” Ryan said in a press release from the county. “This decision was made against the judgment of the Bureau’s staff and in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic.”
In the lawsuit, Ryan outlines the Census Bureau has been planning the Census for a decade and shifted its plan when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which caused a delay in the time frame. On Aug. 3, the Bureau decided to scrap the new coronavirus timeline and conclude its count on Sept. 30.
“The federal government’s attempt to rush the Census count poses a grave threat to all the vital functions that rely on Census data, from reapportioning the United States House of Representatives and redrawing state and local electoral districts to equitably distributing over $1.5 trillion annually in federal funds that support basic needs such as food, health care, and education,” Ryan said in the press release. “Undercounted counties and municipalities will lose representation in Congress and tens of millions of dollars in funding and communities of color will lose core political power and vital services.”
The suit was filed on Aug. 18 and includes Harris County Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia as plaintiffs as well as the National Urban League, League of Woman Voters, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Washington State's King County and the California cities of Los Angeles, Salinas and San Jose.
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