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US government files appeals notice after 2020 census ruling

The Justice Department is appealing a New York judge's ruling stopping the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census

FILE - This March 23, 2018, file photo shows an envelope containing a 2018 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident as part of the nation's only test run of the 2020 Census.The Justice Department is appealing a New York judge's ruling stopping the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
FILE - This March 23, 2018, file photo shows an envelope containing a 2018 census letter mailed to a U.S. resident as part of the nation's only test run of the 2020 Census.The Justice Department is appealing a New York judge's ruling stopping the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census.Read moreMichelle R. Smith / AP

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department is appealing a New York judge's ruling stopping the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

A government lawyer filed a one-page notice of appeal Thursday in Manhattan federal court.

The notice was forwarded to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which also sits in Manhattan.

Judge Jesse Furman said Tuesday that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross violated laws by acting in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner before announcing in March that he would add the question.

Furman concluded that lawsuits were accurate when they claimed the question would lead to an undercount of non-citizens, costing some states congressional representation and federal funding.

Furman also rejected Ross' claim that the question was necessary to help the government enforce the Voting Rights Act.