Delay in 2020 census could gum up finely calibrated planning

Associated Press
Monday, July 1, 2019 12:47 p.m. | Monday, July 1, 2019 12:47 p.m.

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Nana Gyamfi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, left, reads a statement as Gustavo Torres, right, executive director of CASA, an advocacy group for the immigrant community, stands with his activists, after the Supreme Court put a hold on the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019.

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News agency interns sprint across the plaza at the Supreme Court with copies of the justices’ final decisions of the term, in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019. The final day brought key decisions on gerrymandering and a census case involving an attempt by the Trump administration to ask everyone about their citizenship status in the 2020 census.

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Demonstrators gather at the Supreme Court as the justices finish the term with key decisions on gerrymandering and a census case involving an attempt by the Trump administration to ask everyone about their citizenship status in the 2020 census, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019.

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Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA, an advocacy group for the immigrant community, sighs as the Supreme Court decision is announced in a census case involving an attempt by the Trump administration to ask everyone about their citizenship status in the 2020 census, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019.

ORLANDO, Fla. — President Donald Trump says he has asked about delaying the 2020 census over a citizenship question, but experts say any delay could gum up the U.S. Census Bureau’s finely calibrated timetable.

The printing deadline was Monday. For months, the Trump administration argued that the courts needed to decide quickly whether the citizenship question could be added to the 2020 census because of the looming deadline.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the question couldn’t be added for now. Trump tweeted that he had asked lawyers if the count can be delayed until the court can reevaluate the matter.

The bureau already has signed almost 250 office leases and hired 1,500 specialists who encourage participation.

A bureau spokeswoman said early Monday that she didn’t know if any printing schedule changes had been decided.