The Supreme Court put a hold on a lower court order that will allow the Trump Administration to halt the population count of the Census immediately, likely providing an undercount of the nation that will reverberate through federal programs for a decade, the Washington Post reports.
The Trump Administration appealed the lower court ruling that would have required them to continue field work, known as “door knocking,” to track people who have not responded to mailed questionnaires or online forms.
As is traditional in emergency rulings, the Court did not release its vote, but Justice Sotomayor released a dissent outlining the problems with stopping the Census when it’s knowingly incomplete.
“The harms caused by rushing this year’s census count are irreparable,” Sotomayor wrote. “And respondents will suffer their lasting impact for at least the next 10 years.”
The Administration, which did not undertake door knocking until September–unlike other decadal Census which started in March–claimed the would not be able to hit requirements for data to be submitted by December 31, 2020.
The Trump Administration has another case pending before the Court, seeking approval to present two sets of numbers to Trump, one including undocumented residents and one including only US citizens, to determine the allocation of funds.