California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called the move “illegal” late Monday. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The California attorney general has filed suit against the Trump administration after the Commerce Department announced the 2020 census will include a question regarding citizenship status.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra called the move “illegal” late Monday.



The question is being included at the request of the Justice Department, and is expected to pit the Trump administration against Democratic states, which are expected to argue the question will produce inaccurately low numbers.

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The Department of Commerce said in a statement that having such data will allow a more effective enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.

Becerra and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla wrote in an op-ed published before the decision that the question would be “an extraordinary attempt by the Trump administration to hijack the 2020 census for political purposes.”

"California, with its large immigrant communities, would be disproportionately harmed by depressed participation in the 2020 census," they wrote. "An undercount would threaten at least one of California’s seats in the House of Representatives (and, by extension, an elector in the electoral college.) It would deprive California and its cities and counties of their fair share of billions of dollars in federal funds.”

