In March, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, with the support of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ anti-immigrant Department of Justice, announced that he had directed the Census Bureau to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Adding the citizenship question is bad for the census, bad for our communities, and bad for America.
The Census Policy Advocacy Network (CPAN) strongly encourages you to submit a comment opposing the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. In March, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, with the support of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ anti-immigrant Department of Justice, announced that he had directed the Census Bureau to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Adding this question to the census form that goes to all households will discourage participation and threatens the accuracy of the count. Make no mistake about it – this is a blatant attempt to undermine the 2020 Census and the latest attack on the immigrant community by this administration. Recently released documents reveal that career staff at the Census Bureau warned the political leadership at the Commerce Department that the inclusion of a citizenship question would depress census response rates, increase costs, and diminish the quality of census data. The documents also reveal that the citizenship question was added to advance the agenda of operatives like Steve Bannon and Kris Kobach.
This decision is particularly bad for Californians. Our state is home to the highest percentage (27%) of foreign-born persons in the country and thus stands to be most adversely affected by any depression in response rates. This is our chance to let Secretary Ross know that he needs to remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census.
A number of states, including California, and civil rights organizations have already sued to ensure that there is no citizenship question. The public can also weigh in about the misguided decision. The reason to oppose the citizenship question is simple—this decision sacrifices the integrity, fairness, and accuracy of the census. Tell Secretary Wilbur Ross that adding the citizenship question is a terrible idea.
Take Action: Oppose the Citizenship Question on the 2020 Census! SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT HERE: http://cqrcengage.com/censuscounts2020.