The Montgomery County Council is preparing to back an effort by several state prosecutors to oppose the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
Council Vice President Nancy Navarro on Tuesday plans to introduce a resolution supporting state attorneys general who are urging the U.S. Department of Commerce to reject a proposal by President Donald Trump to ask people about their citizenship on the 2020 census.
The resolution also requests that Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh file a lawsuit to stop the question from being added to the census. So far, 12 other states have filed suits over the question, according to the resolution.
Six other council members—President Hans Riemer, Marc Elrich, Sidney Katz, Roger Berliner, George Leventhal and Nancy Floreen— have signed on to the resolution, giving it the support of seven members of the nine-member body and making it all but certain to be approved.
The proposed census question has led to worries in certain areas that undocumented immigrants won’t participate in the census and could result in the undercounting of population in those areas. The census determines how federal dollars are distributed to communities —as well as the number of representatives in the U.S. House.
The census has not asked residents about their citizenship since 1950.
“As local leaders we must do all we can to stand up for our residents and make sure that we are getting our fair share when it comes to federal representation and funding,” Navarro said in a statement. “Essential services that all our residents rely on are determined, in part, from census data.”
She added that she believes the citizenship question will “deter millions of immigrants across the U.S. from participating” in the census.
The all-Democrat council has increasingly been weighing in on national issues since Trump took office.
Previously the council passed resolutions condemning Trump’s federal budget proposal, reaffirming its commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement, and asking Congress to protect immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) programs.