The Supreme Court has ruled, for now, that the Trump administration cannot include a question about citizenship that was meant to be included on the 2020 census form that goes to every U.S. household.

The Supreme Court sent a case on whether the census should contain a citizenship question back to a lower court on Thursday, which is a setback for the Trump administration. President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday that the ruling is “totally ridiculous” and he has asked lawyers about delaying the census entirely.

“It was explicitly said by Justice Roberts that it seems to be contrived, almost like the reason was made up after the fact,” said Alfredo Estrada, an immigration attorney with Burke Costanza & Carberry LLP in Merrillville. “It’s good to see the system is working in the way it should and that judicial is requiring executive to act in a way that’s constitutional.”

The explanation offered by the Trump administration for the addition of the question of citizenship — that it was an effort to protect the voting rights of the nation’s minority residents — was inadequate and seemed to be contrived, said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority. However, there is possibility the administration could provide an adequate answer, according to The Associated Press.

“There’s always a possibility,” Estrada said. “But I think it’s a low one.”

Under the Constitution, the federal government is required to count every person in the country once every 10 years. The data is gathered by sending each household a form to fill out.

But still, there’s no way to be sure it’s entirely accurate, and undercounts have happened in the past. If the question of citizenship is added, it could cause the count to become more inaccurate, especially for minority groups.

“The citizenship question, from my perspective, has nothing to do with what the census is trying to accomplish here,” said Sophia J. Arshad, an immigration attorney and managing partner of Arshad, Pangere & Warring LLP in Merrillville.

Arshad said the question of citizenship on the 2020 census could prevent those who are having immigration issues, or those who are scared of federal intervention in their life because of immigration, to fill out the form. She said they fear that the information can be shared with other federal agencies, such Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“It’s a deterrent from filling out the form once you start to ask about people’s immigration status,” Arshad said.

According to the The Associated Press, the Census Bureau’s experts have predicted that if the census asks everyone whether they are an American citizen, millions of Latinos and immigrants would go uncounted.

“I think it would be an issue for undercounts of immigrants or undocumented people for sure if it was included on the census,” Estrada said. “But there are other reasons why you’d want an accurate census.”

The main purpose of the census is to determine how many seats each state will have in the House of Representatives, which would also determine how many votes in the Electoral College, based on population.

Aside from determining seats and electoral votes, the census data is used for the allocation of about $900 billion in federal spending, which is used to pay for things such as highway repairs and public schools.

“We want an accurate census, not because of how it could affect minorities, but because it could affect the way we govern,” Estrada said.

The Associated Press contributed.