Cities fear federal funding cuts if the citizen question stays on the Census and results in an undercount of Latino populations.

The Trump administration's attempt to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census has made a hard job harder for cities. Hard-to-count populations from recent immigrants may be less likely to want to fill out census forms if they think they will be asked to prove they are citizens. Not counting these people would have huge consequences for political representation and federal dollars. “The census determines how some $800 billion in federal spending is divided every year between funds for transportation, aid for housing and healthcare, and more,” Kriston Capps reports for CityLab.
Whether or not the question will appear remains an open question, while a district court found many "administrative law violations by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross," Capps reports, this is not the last legal word on the matter. "Whether the 2020 count features a question about citizenship will likely fall to the U.S. Supreme Court—maybe even before an appeals court takes up the case, if the Department of Justice gets its way," Capps reports.
For majority Latino communities this could mean disinvestment on a massive scale. "For James Diossa, the young Latino mayor of Central Falls, Rhode Island—a Providence suburb of 19,000 residents with a Latinx population upward of 70 percent—anxiety over the 2020 census is far from abstract," Capps writes. Mayors are looking for ways to help a program federal administrators seem dead set on sabotaging.
FULL STORY: Cities Are Bracing for 2020 Census Chaos

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network
The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

Chicago Approves Green Affordable Housing Plan
The Mayor’s plan calls for creating a nonprofit housing corporation tasked with building affordable housing that meets Green Building standards.

E-Scooter Parking: A Guide
How smart planning — and ample designated parking — can end conflicts over shared scooters.

‘It’s Been 50 years’: Public Transit Law Passes in Montana
Legislation would fix transportation district issue, allow for greater reach on city bus routes.

Top 10 Tech-Ready Cities
An index ranks U.S. cities based on their preparedness for the ‘smart city future.’
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Moorpark
City of Tustin
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions