The US Supreme Court has blocked the Trump administration from adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 census for the time being.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s liberal justices, saying the administration did not provide adequate justification for the question.
The reason provided by the White House seem “contrived”, the justices wrote in a 5-4 ruling.
The White House argued the question would help protect minority voters.
But the Census Bureau’s own experts say it would lead to a major undercount.
The complicated decision does not bar the question for either its language or the underlying premise.
Instead, by sending the case back to a lower court, Justice Roberts left open the possibility that the Trump administration could provide the necessary justification to add a question on citizenship to the census.