2020 Census Will Include Citizenship Question and One State in Particular Is Freaking Out

By Bizpac Review. The “sanctuary state” of California plans to file a lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s move to include a question about citizenship on the 2020 Census.

“Including a citizenship question on the 2020 census is not just a bad idea — it is illegal,” California attorney general Xavier Becerra claimed on Twitter.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the citizenship question is necessary to obtain “complete and accurate data” about voter makeup in the country. He explained in a letter:

“The decennial census is mandated in the Constitution and its data are relied on for a myriad of important government decisions, including apportionment of Congressional seats among states, enforcement of voting rights laws, and allocation of federal funds. These are foundational elements of our democracy, and it is therefore incumbent upon the Department and the Census Bureau to make every effort to provide a complete and accurate decennial census.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the question should be included in the 2020 Census to stem voter fraud and to better appropriate federal funding to states. (Read more from “2020 Census Will Include Citizenship Question and One State in Particular Is Freaking Out” HERE)

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2020 Census Will Ask About Respondents’ Citizenship Status

By NPR. The U.S. Commerce Department announced late Monday that it will restore a question about citizenship to the 2020 census questionnaire.

In an eight-page memo Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the Justice Department has requested that the census ask who is a citizen in order to help determine possible violations of the Voting Rights Act, to help enforce that law . . .

The last time a question about citizenship was included in the census questionnaire was 1950. Such a question is posed in the annual American Community Survey which covers about 3.5 million people . . .

And, Democratic Rep. Grace Meng of New York issued a statement: “I am deeply disappointed with Secretary Ross, and I will now look to introduce legislation to stop this question from being included on the census.”

As Hansi reported in January, civil rights groups dispute the Justice Department’s need for the data from a citizenship question to help enforce the Voting Rights Act. (Read more from “2020 Census Will Ask About Respondents’ Citizenship Status” HERE)

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