Washington (CNN) Eric Holder, a former attorney general for the Obama administration, writes in a new op-ed that he's "deeply concerned" the Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to "weaponize" the 2020 US census.

"Allowing the administration to demand citizenship information from every household as part of the decennial census for the first time in more than half a century would dramatically depress the count in areas with significant Latino and immigrant populations and would reposition political representation toward areas more likely to elect Republicans," Holder wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Thursday.

The Trump administration wants to add a question about citizenship status to the 2020 US census, which will be used to divide up congressional seats and apportion millions of dollars of federal funding. The Supreme Court has picked up the case after three lower courts issued stinging rulings striking down the question.

Holder argued that including a question about citizenship status on the census would lead to a "targeted undercount" and result in political representation and federal resources shifted away from immigrant and minority communities.

The administration, however, claims that the question is necessary to better comply with federal voting rights law.

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