Federal judge orders Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to be deposed in 2020 census case

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Ross is to be questioned by attorneys representing more than a dozen states and cities in lawsuits challenging the decision and accusing Ross of acting improperly.

The lawsuit claims immigrants will be discouraged from participating if the citizenship question is added, which will dilute political diversity, and in turn, decrease federal funding to states that tend to vote Democrat, according to The Associated Press.

Doug Mills/The New York Times via ReduxCommerce Secretary Wilbur Ross speaks to President Donald Trump during the first meeting of the President’s National Council for the American Worker at the White House in Washington, Sept. 17, 2018.

Ross began considering whether to reinstate the question shortly after he was appointment in February 2017, “well before” the Department of Justice made a formal request to do so on Dec. 12, according to the order, which cited earlier submissions made by Ross.

Ross manifested an “unusually strong personal interest in the matter,” Furman wrote, adding that the secretary demanded to know as early as May 2017 why no action had been taken on his months-old request — seven months before the formal DOJ request was made.

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The secretary then “ultimately mandated the addition of the citizenship question,” despite the “strong and continuing opposition” from the U.S. Census Bureau, the court documents state.

The state of New York — one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the census decision — is welcoming the federal judge’s order, said, Amy Spitalnick spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, in a statement to ABC News.

The Department of Commerce declined to comment to ABC News.

Sourse: abcnews.go.com