The Trump administration is being sued over its plans to include a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census, which California Attorney General Xavier Becerra says "Is not just a bad idea - it is illegal."
Democrats are worried that adding a citizenship question will dampen participation in the census by illegal immigrants, reducing the total population count in the Democratic-leaning metropolitan areas where illegal immigrants are largely concentrated.
There is no evidence that a citizenship question would dramatically impact census participation.
If a household does not fill out the census form, then census workers visit that household to gather census data.
If asking about citizenship is a deterrent to participation by illegal immigrants, then what about the existing census question that asks whether respondents are "Of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin" - the only ethnic group specifically called out? Respondents are required by law to tell the government whether they are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or other Hispanic origin, which they are required to list.
As the Census Bureau points out, "It is against the law for any Census Bureau employee to disclose or publish any census or survey information that identifies an individual or business. . . the FBI and other government entities do not have the legal right to access this information." Furthermore, the proposed question is about citizenship, not legal status.
If they choose to violate U.S. law yet again by refusing to participate in the census because of a perfectly legitimate question about citizenship, that's not the U.S. government's fault.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-nothing-wrong-with-a-census-question-about-citizenship/2018/03/29/aa3ee8c2-3367-11e8-94fa-32d48460b955_story.html?utm_term=.8001ee17ef0d
Democrats are worried that adding a citizenship question will dampen participation in the census by illegal immigrants, reducing the total population count in the Democratic-leaning metropolitan areas where illegal immigrants are largely concentrated.
There is no evidence that a citizenship question would dramatically impact census participation.
If a household does not fill out the census form, then census workers visit that household to gather census data.
If asking about citizenship is a deterrent to participation by illegal immigrants, then what about the existing census question that asks whether respondents are "Of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin" - the only ethnic group specifically called out? Respondents are required by law to tell the government whether they are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or other Hispanic origin, which they are required to list.
As the Census Bureau points out, "It is against the law for any Census Bureau employee to disclose or publish any census or survey information that identifies an individual or business. . . the FBI and other government entities do not have the legal right to access this information." Furthermore, the proposed question is about citizenship, not legal status.
If they choose to violate U.S. law yet again by refusing to participate in the census because of a perfectly legitimate question about citizenship, that's not the U.S. government's fault.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/theres-nothing-wrong-with-a-census-question-about-citizenship/2018/03/29/aa3ee8c2-3367-11e8-94fa-32d48460b955_story.html?utm_term=.8001ee17ef0d
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