The Addition of the Citizenship Question to Census 2020: Democracy - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Addition of the Citizenship Question to Census 2020: Democracy at Risk

September 18, 2018

Rosalind Gold

Senior Director, Policy, Research and Advocacy

Giovany Hernandez

Regional Census Campaign Manager, Los Angeles NALEO Educational Fund

Administration’s Last Minute Addition of Citizenship Question Puts Census 2020 at Serious Risk

• On March 26, the Secretary of

Commerce agreed to a Department

• f Justice request, and added the

citizenship question to the 2020 Census questionnaire at the last minute.

• Secretary Ross subsequently

reported this was his idea since February 2017, and that he asked DOJ to make the request.

• Census Bureau submitted Census

2020 questionnaire to Congress with this question, but not with the topics as required by March 2017.

• The Department of Justice and the Secretary of Commerce justified the

addition by citing the need for better voting rights enforcement.

• However, data from the American Community Survey, and the census “long”

form before that, are sufficiently robust for civil rights and Voting Rights Act

• enforcement. The decennial census has not included a citizenship question

since 1950, prior to the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

• Secretary of Commerce claims lack of evidence that citizenship question

will depress response rates, but question has not been tested in current political climate, in a form sent to 100% of population.

• The “End to End” Providence County test did not include a citizenship
• question. Media reported the issue affected participation.
• Census Bureau representatives have already reported widespread and

unprecedented fear among respondents to other surveys; they are reluctant to participate fully and provide accurate information. In addition, five Bureau economists found evidence suggesting that a citizenship question in Census 2020 would lead to lower response rates, resulting in higher field costs and a lower-quality data.

Administration’s actions to add citizenship question are flawed and specious

Administration’s actions to add citizenship question are flawed and specious (cont.)

• President Trump’s use of citizenship question in campaign fundraising

and other policymaker comments suggest addition of question is politically motivated.

More than 250,000 individuals and organizations expressed opposition to the citizenship question through the regulatory comment process in early August 2018 We anticipate another opportunity to submit comments

• pposing the question to the Office of Management and

Budget in Fall 2018.

Public Comments in Response to Federal Register Notice

Regulatory Comment Process

• Two lawsuits in the Southern District of New York, which have been

consolidated into one (State of New York, et. al.; ACLU and NYCLU); two lawsuits in the Northern District of California (State of California; LCCRUL), and the District of Maryland (MALDEF/AAAJC; National Redistricting Foundation) on the citizenship question.

• The New York case is proceeding most quickly. On July 3, Judge

Jesse Furman granted additional discovery; on July 23, hundreds of documents were released showing Secretary Ross misled Congress. A tentative trial date of Nov. 5th has been set for this case.

• In the New York, California and Maryland cases, judges have

rejected the Administration’s efforts to dismiss the litigation, and the cases are moving forward. Trial dates for the California and Maryland cases have been tentatively set for January 2019.

• MALDEF/AAAJC lawsuit includes American Indians, conspiracy

theory.

• NAACP lawsuit alleges 2020 Census will undercount African Americans.
• State of Alabama sued to remove undocumented immigrants from the

reapportionment count.

Eight lawsuits are pending

NALEO’s Approach to the Citizenship Question

• Accurate and reliable information is not yet available about how the

Census Bureau will handle the Citizenship Question; it has established an internal working group to determine:

• What it will do if the question is left blank
• What will happen if the question is not answered accurately
• If it will use administrative records from DHS, Department of State,

USCIS and other sources, to “impute” an answer

• The Administration has nominated a new Census Bureau Director and it

is unknown what policy agenda he will implement once in office

• Once these determinations are made, NALEO will be able to provide

guidance on the Citizenship Question

• Community leaders must work to avoid panic and misinformation to

prevent adverse consequences that may diminish Census participation

TAKE ACTI ON!

# SaveTheCensus

We are launching an comprehensive advocacy campaign against the addition of the citizenship question by mobilizing our members and stakeholders, join us by:

• Writing and/or calling your Member of Congress and/or Secretary Ross and

asking them to OPPOSE the addition of a citizenship question.

• Amplifying your opposition to the addition of the citizenship question to your

constituency.

• Joining our Census 2020 campaign!
• Factsheets, sample letters and other resources available at: www.NALEO.org

TAKE ACTI ON!

# SaveTheCensus

Join our Census 2020 campaign!

Visit www.NALEO.org Email to censusGOTC@naleo.org with “Subscribe” in the subject line to join our Census email list. Text “CENSUS” to 97779 to join our SMS/Census Get Out the Count list.

(Standard messaging rates apply).

Thank you.

Rosalind Gold Senior Director of Policy, Research and Advocacy rgold@naleo.org Giovany Hernandez Regional Census Campaign Manager, Los Angeles ghernandez@naleo.org www.naleo.org