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Trump administration retreats on census citizenship question

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Trump to try to delay census after Supreme Court rejects bid

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON In a stinging defeat for US President Donald Trump, his administration ended its effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 US census, saying it will begin printing forms that do not include the contentious query.

But Mr Trump insisted he would still try to get the "most vital" question included.

White House and Justice Department officials confirmed the decision to end the effort, which came in the aftermath of a Supreme Court ruling on June 27 that faulted the administration for its original attempt to add it.

"I respect the Supreme Court but strongly disagree with its ruling regarding my decision to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 census," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

After the ruling, Mr Trump tweeted he was consulting lawyers about delaying the census so the question could be added.

In a late-night tweet on Tuesday, Mr Trump said: "I have asked the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice to do whatever is necessary to bring this most vital of questions, and this very important case, to a successful conclusion. USA! USA!USA!"

Critics have called the citizenship question a Republican ploy to scare immigrants into not taking part in the population count and engineer an undercount in Democratic-leaning areas with high immigrant and Latino populations.

That would benefit non-Hispanic whites and help Mr Trump's fellow Republicans gain seats in the US House of Representatives and state legislatures, the critics said.

Said New York Attorney-General Letitia James, who challenged the inclusion of the question: "While the Trump administration may have attempted to politicise the census and punish cities and states across the nation, justice prevailed, and the census will continue to remain a tool for obtaining an accurate count of our population."- REUTERS

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