Dems Call for Senate Hearing Over Census Citizenship Question
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UPDATE - March 30, 2018: The addition of a question over immigration status to the 2020 census has four Democratic senators calling for a hearing on the upcoming national head count.
The letter - signed by Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Gary Peters of Michigan, and Claire McCaskill of Missouri - was directed to the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which has oversight of the U.S. Census Bureau.
"We are concerned that the addition of the citizenship question is tainted by improper political considerations," the letter says. It continues:
"DOJ requested the addition of this question in December 2017 based on an unsupported assertion that citizenship data are needed to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act even though the last time a citizenship question was asked was before the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and no similar requests have been made to support enforcement."
By adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, this Administration is violating the idea that everyone should be counted in America. It is a grave threat to the accuracy of the survey, which will have a harmful impact for communities across our country. Learn more here: pic.twitter.com/h6RSiOui30
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) March 28, 2018
—Josh Herman
Countable's original story, and updates, appear below.
UPDATE March 28, 2018: The New York Times reports that 10 states have now joined with New York in a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration for their plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
The states joining New York so far are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington. California has filed suit separately, bringing the grand total to 12.
Attorney General Maura Healey of Massachusetts told the Times, “The census is supposed to count everyone, This is a blatant and illegal attempt by the Trump administration to undermine that goal, which will result in an undercount of the population and threaten federal funding for our state and cities.”
Administration officials maintain that citizenship questions have been included in "the census" for decades. Citizenship questions have been included in the American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau, but participation is voluntary. No citizenship question has been included in the decennial Census, participation in which is required by law, since 1960.
—Asha Sanaker
UPDATE March 27, 2018: Just days prior to the March 31 deadline to announce the final list of upcoming 2020 Census questions, reports Politico, the Commerce Department has announced they have agreed to a Justice Department request, and will be including a question on immigration status in the next census.
The Justice Department maintains that the question is a necessary tool in enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, but critics maintain it is an inappropriate means of rallying the president's anti-immigrant base. They argue that it will depress both immigrant participation, as well as participation by citizens with undocumented immigrant family members, leading to an inaccurate count.
The State of California immediately filed suit, announced California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also announced that he would lead a multi-state lawsuit against the change. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who now heads the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, also threatened to sue.
The census is used to fuel nationwide redistricting every 10 years, as well as apportion billions of dollars in federal funding. Liberal states with high undocumented immigrant populations could be strongly effected by changes in both areas.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross made a statement regarding his decision, insisting that there was no evidence that more people would not participate due to the change, which side steps the issue that the Census Bureau historically works extensively to increase participation in the constitutionally-mandated count:
"The reinstatement of a citizenship question will not decrease the response rate of residents who already decided not to respond. And no one provided evidence that there are residents who would respond accurately to a decennial census that did not contain a citizenship question but would not respond if it did (although many believed that such residents had to exist), While it is possible this belief is true, there is no information available to determine the number of people who would in fact not respond due to a citizenship question being added."
—Asha Sanaker
Countable's original story appears below
What’s the story?
The Department of Justice wants the Census Bureau to ask about citizenship during the 2020 census.
Why are we talking about the 2020 census now?
As NPR explained, the Census Bureau "is preparing to conduct a routine field test of its 2020 questions later this year, after the final wording of those questions is due to Congress by the end of March."
Why does it matter?
Since 1960, the census has avoided the topic of citizenship.
But in a letter to the Census Bureau, a Justice Department official argues that "reinstating a question on citizenship will best enable the Department to protect all American citizens’ voting rights."
Census experts worry that adding a question about citizenship could cut compliance and raise costs.
"It certainly raises the level of risk of getting a bad count or a count that doesn't that fairly represent everyone," John Thompson, a former Census Bureau director, told NPR.
A group of Democratic senators went further with their criticism. In a letter to the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, the lawmakers called the DOJ request "deeply troubling."
"This chilling effect could lead to broad inaccuracies across the board, from how congressional districts are drawn to how government funds are distributed," the lawmakers wrote.
What do you think?
Do you support this change, or not? Will you or members of your community choose not to participate in the Census because of this change?
Hit Take Action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.
—Josh Herman
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(Photo Credit: liveslow / iStock)
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