Citizenship Question Has Been Part of the Census Process for Decades: White House

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded to questions on Tuesday about the Trump administration’s decision to include a citizenship question on the upcoming census. In a statement released on March 27, the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, said, “a question on citizenship status will be reinstated to the 2020 decennial census questionnaire to help enforce the Voting Rights Act.” Following the announcement, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration claiming the measure would be unlawful. A  citizenship question has been included in every census from 1790 to 1950, but discontinued since. But although the question was not on the general decennial census, it still appeared in other key surveys, including the annual American Community Survey issued to 3.5 million American households.