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聽each state鈥檚 number of federal representatives and the amount of money states and localities receive for infrastructure, health care, social safety nets and other federal programs. It also influences where district lines are drawn for federal representation.

The census has undercounted marginalized groups since it began. The Constitution outlines that: 鈥淩epresentatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned 鈥� according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, 鈥�

Unfortunately, of willful exclusion of marginalized communities from the census has continued, perpetuating underservice and underrepresentation in our federal government - and that pattern isn鈥檛 likely to change soon.

The next census will be conducted in 2020, in the midst of a contentious political environment聽by an administration that routinely undervalues and demonizes minorities. But the census鈥檚 impacts will last long beyond when Donald Trump鈥檚 presidency ends.

Last year, the Trump administration announced that . Within hours, a lawsuit was filed over the decision. Eighteen states, 10 cities, four counties, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors are against the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Commerce over the proposed question.

The Supreme Court began hearing arguments earlier this week and will decide the case by late June. According to NBC News, 鈥渂oth the government and the challengers agree that , especially in immigrant communities.鈥�

The administration claims that the citizenship question will provide more information about who is in the United States, that it鈥檚 simply reinstating a question that鈥檚 been part of every census except in 2010, and that the census鈥檚 results wouldn鈥檛 be used against respondents.

But with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has its efforts under Trump. ICE increasingly arrests and - establishing a precedent for fears of exploitation and entrapment among the immigrant community.

, the first citizenship question was introduced in the census. 鈥檚 Hansi Lo Wang and Renee Klahr went through 200 years of census data and found in the original iteration of the citizenship question, 鈥淗eads of household were asked how many foreign-born people 鈥榥ot naturalized鈥� were in their homes.鈥�

Various versions of that question were asked of every household on 10 censuses between 1820 and 1950. After 1950, a variant of the citizenship question was asked on only four censuses and to only a fraction of the households surveyed.

The reintroduction of the citizenship question has .

In legal proceedings, statistical data experts blasted the administration鈥檚 assertion that the citizenship question would not harm the count, pointing to , which proves that asking about an individual鈥檚 citizenship status discourages participation among noncitizens and Latinos.

A Harvard study found that 鈥淸t]he Trump administration鈥檚 proposal to ask a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. census Hispanics, costing their communities federal aid and political representation.鈥�

Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census form will serve no useful purpose. Instead, it will trigger mistrust, depress response rates, and that will further disenfranchise minority voters.

We urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to drop the proposal and contacted members of Congress asking them to oppose the proposal, which was created in the 鈥渁tmosphere of extreme fear in immigrant communities鈥� stemming from the Trump administration鈥檚 aggressive enforcement actions and Trump鈥檚 own incendiary words about immigrants.

鈥淢any families in immigrant communities fear being targeted by a government willing to tear apart families and cage the children of asylum seekers,鈥� we told the Department of Commerce. 鈥淚n this context, a citizenship question will chill response rates, particularly among communities 鈥� such as low-income rural and urban families, people of color, and immigrant families 鈥� that are already at greater risk of being undercounted.鈥�

The Supreme Court is set to release a decision by the end of June, and the Census Bureau has prepared for when that decision comes - one with the citizenship question, one without.聽

One version would fulfill a constitutional obligation, the other would neglect that duty.

An accurate census does not include a citizenship question.

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