Wilbur Ross backtracks on census immigration question

In a court filing released Thursday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross changed his reasoning of how he came to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. census questionnaire, now saying former chief strategist Steve Bannon was a part of the discussion, contradicting his prior accounts.

Why it matters: Ross originally said the citizenship questions was to help the Department of Justice enforce the Voting Rights Act. Critics say adding the question would undercount the number of immigrants in the U.S., as people may be afraid to answer it honestly. Population shifts tracked by the census have major ramifications in redistricting boundaries for House districts.