President Donald Trump departs for travel to Louisiana from the White House in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2019.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
The Trump administration will continue efforts to put ask people in the 2020 census if they are U.S. citizens, Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge in a court filing Friday, two days after President Donald Trump contradicted officials who said the administration was dropping any such bid.
The filing came at the deadline set by a federal judge in Maryland for the government to say whether it would abandon its controversial quest to have the citizenship question in place for the upcoming census, or whether it would continue the legal battle.
The latest twist in the census citizenship question saga came a week after the Supreme Court effectively blocked the query from being asked next year.
While the government said its effort will continue, the filing had a pessmistic tone that underscored how much of a legal longshot the Justice Department is…
