Xavier Becerra, California's Attorney General, is suing the Trump administration for moving to reinstate a question on citizenship status to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau questionnaire.
The move is ratcheting up of tensions and talk of political "war" between progressive California and the hard-right politics of President Trump.
Becerra argues that adding a citizenship question is unconstitutional, and said in a statement that it is an "attempt to disrupt an accurate Census count." Federal funds for everything from schools to housing are allocated according to Census data.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, but Attorney General Becerra tweeted that it was filed Monday night. He also tweeted an image of the lawsuit Tuesday morning.
Here's the lawsuit we filed last night against @realdonaldtrump's #census2020 decision. #California simply has too much to lose for us to allow his Administration to botch this obligation! #citizenship pic.twitter.com/Kp1WWJ3jC8
— Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 27, 2018