U.S. Census to ask about citizenship; Trump's war against immigrants opens new front

IN ITS ONGOING war against immigrants, the Donald Trump administration has opened another front to strip immigrants of any political voice. He wants to ask people for their citizenship status in the Census coming up in 2020.

The result of the question could have a challenge effect in the count of minorities and noncitizens, whether they are legal or undocumented.

"It will dramatically reduce participation by immigrant communities, stunting their growing political influence and depriving them of economic benefits," says Atty. Ceridwen Cherry, of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project.

"This is not an unintended side effect," says Cherry. "It’s the reason the Trump administration sought to add the question, rejecting the advice of Census Bureau’s professional staff, its scientific advisory committee, and five previous census directors from both Republican and Democratic administrations."

“The census is essential for ensuring fair and accurate representation and distribution of government resources,” wrote Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “But by including a question on citizenship, which is not required by the Constitution, the Trump Administration is exploiting the fear of immigrant communities who are already reticent to divulge personal information to the federal government.”

The ACLU filed a lawsuit earlier this month, which calls the question “a naked act of intentional discrimination directed at immigrant communities of color.” is the latest in a series of legal challenges from states, cities and civil rights organizations since Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced in March that the question would be added.

The ACLU suit joins five other lawsuits filed earlier by states, cities and immigrant rights advocates challenging the Commerce Department, the DOJ and the U.S. Census over this not-so-simple question.

Below is how the question would appeaer in the Census questionnaire:

The citizenship question will raise red flags in households with immigrants who are already suspicious of the government because of on-going anti-immigrant actions by the Trump administration.

"The administration is trying to sabotage the 2020 Census with the addition of a citizenship question that it knows will chill participation by communities that the administration seeks to marginalize," said the Asian Americans Advancing Justice in a statement. 

"Without an accurate count, valuable dollars that support immigrant and other communities of color may be lost. Minority communities will not be represented and served in the manner in which they are entitled in Congress," claims the civil rights umbrella organization.

The question on citizenship hasn't been asked by the U.S. Census in the last 70 years. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has provided no explanation, let alone a detailed analysis, as to why gathering citizenship data through the census is suddenly necessary.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced on March 26 that the 2020 Census will inquire about citizenship, based on a request from the U.S. Justice Department. The Trump administration claims that the DOJ needs citizenship information in order to enforce the Voting Rights Act. Translated: That actually means that the DOJ wants to make sure that only U.S. citizens are voting. Since the 2016 election, Trump has asserted that thousands of votes were cast for Hillary Clinton by noncitizens, a claim that has never been substantiated and challenged by state attorneys general.

The U.S. Constitution requires that a count be taken every ten years of every person in the United States, citizen or not. Part of the reason is so that every person - citizen, permanent resident, work or student visa holder or undocumented - is counted and has representation in government. 

The Census is used by government and private agencies to determine the amount of services and government assistance be given to the various states, counties and cities.

The Trump administration knows that asking the question will dampen the response from immigrants and noncitizens, according to the ACLU.

"Lower response rates will be catastrophic for communities and states with large immigrant populations," said the ACLU's  Cherry.

California, with the largest immigrant population in the country, could lose Congressional seats and crucial federal funding. Not coincidentally, California voted overwhelmingly against Trump and continues to challenge his policies.

"California simply has too much to lose for us to allow (Trump's) Administration to botch this obligation!" said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has filed one of the lawsuits against the use of the citizenship question.

"That result plays directly into a longstanding Trump administration plan to exclude non-citizens when apportioning legislative districts as a way to further strip the political power of immigrant communities," says Cherry.

"I represent one of the largest immigrant populations in Texas," said Gene Wu, State Representative for Texas House, District 137 (Houston, Texas).  Many of these immigrants are refugees and asylum seekers from Asian countries where they experienced oppression and brutality by their own government. 

"It is already a tremendous challenge to provide representation and services to these populations.

"They fear our government just as they feared their former government. The inclusion of a citizenship question will further drive these vulnerable communities into the darkness. Undercounting these communities will mean tangible harm and suffering for people who have already suffered so much," said Wu.

By including the question, the U.S. Census goes against the recommendations of its own expert advisory body. 

D. Sunshine Hillygus, a member of the the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and a political science professor at Duke University, offered a scathing critique of the decision, blasting the administration for what she says puts census data at risk.

Usually, before adding a question to the census, it is usually tested over several years but the citizenship question was included at the last minute without any vetting.

“I want to say in no uncertain terms that I think this is an absolutely awful decision,” said Hillygus, who is on the panel of about 15 outside experts that advise the Census Bureau on data collection, methodology and analysis. “I am dumbfounded that this decision is coming in at such a late date. My view is that this is going to have severe negative implications for data quality and costs.”

________________________________________________________________________________