Wilbur Ross

The Justice Department told a court it has realized there are more internal documents that it inadvertently failed to disclose before lawsuits over the now-blocked census citizenship question ended.

It "was not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political," the agency's acting chief scientist wrote.

While the Justice Department continues exploring possible ways to add a question about citizenship to the census forms, a federal judge in Maryland is moving ahead with reopening two cases against it.

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told House investigators he discussed the question with campaign officials more than a year before the Trump administration formally requested it.

A federal judge in New York has issued the first ruling out of multiple lawsuits over a question about U.S. citizenship status. The ruling is expected to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

In focus groups for the U.S. census, some participants identified the citizenship question as a significant reason why they would avoid taking part in the head count.