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MinKwon Center for Community Action MinKwon census outreach staff Fred Liu and Shiza Ranamagar hang Chinese and Korean language posters at stores last month in Flushing, N.Y. |
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of California issued her ruling late Thursday and this morning (Friday, Sept.25) the Justice Department filed a notice that it is appealing that order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Appeals Court would have to issue a decision quickly with the government's plan to end the once-in-decade tally of who is living in the U.S. is next Tuesday, Sept. 30.
The government's action is the latest development in a federal lawsuit over the Trump administration's decision to shorten the timeline for the Constitution-mandated census.
"When the weather isn't right, we postpone the launching of rockets into space," the committee wrote in their recommendations for the bureau. "The same should be true of the decennial enumeration, the results of which will impact apportionment, redistricting, funding decisions, legal mandates and regulatory uses of decennial Census data over the next decade."
Plaintiffs, led by the National Urban League, are hoping an extension of the Census will improve the accuracy of the count.
"The coronavirus pandemic has set all of us back and created many challenges to get people counted, especially for rural areas such as the Navajo Nation," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement. "Today's ruling should be respected to allow the census count to continue without disruption."
According to NPR, "For the Black community, this decision means we have extra time to claim the governmental resources and representation that we've been denied," said Nana Gyamfi, executive director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, another plaintiff in the lawsuit.
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| JUDGE LUCY KOH |
“The court’s decision affirms our contention that changes to the census schedule will irreparably harm the integrity of the 2020 Census and result in a devastating undercount of vulnerable communities,” said Marc H. Morial, the NUL’s president and chief executive, to the Washington Post. “Career officials at the Census Bureau opposed the shortened schedule precisely for these reasons, and to avoid the perception of political manipulation, and we are confident that integrity and equity will win out over the partisan vandalism that threatens our democracy.”
Meanwhile, a bipartisan Senate bill introduced this month by Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, would extend the count through at least Oct. 31 and extend the data reporting deadline by four months.
Census experts say post-count analysis and adjustments are key to an accurate count; the government’s Replan would have shortened it from six months to three months. A date extension approved by lawmakers could be vetoed by the president but still could add weight to challenges in court.
An undercount of hard-to-count communities, including the Black, Latino and AAPI communities, immigrants and undocumented Americans, would affect representation in Congress and local governments and affect disbursement of trillions of dollars in government assistance and social services, as well as the awarding of infrastructure projects in the cities, counties and states where large numbers of the hard-co-count communities reside.
The census also forms the sampling frame for thousands of surveys that impact decisionmaking over the next 10 years. All of these uses have long-term effects on public and private investments in communities—and particularly, communities of color.
The U.S. is undergoing a period of racial reckoning and the information from the Census is the basis for economic, social, marketing and business decisions.
Recent analyses show that the nation’s younger generations are the most racially diverse ever, with nonwhite racial groups accounting for more than half of all births and persons ages under 16. Because the white population is aging and declining in number among younger age groups, it is important that the 2020 census reflects the full diversity of the country’s youth. This will ensure that younger people of color and their families get their due in how political decisions are made, how funding gets allocated, and where schools, housing, hospitals, and employment sites are located. Investments in this young, diverse generation are critical for their—and the nation’s—future.
"We will all pay a huge price if they are undercounted in a flawed census," states an analysis from the nonpartisan Brookings Institute.
"If it isn’t stopped, the Trump administration’s last-ditch effort to hijack the 2020 census will have devastating, long-term consequences for the nation, especially its youth. Let us hope that Congress and the judicial system intervene in time to save this vital government institution."
Meanwhile, a bipartisan Senate bill introduced this month by Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, would extend the count through at least Oct. 31 and extend the data reporting deadline by four months.
Census experts say post-count analysis and adjustments are key to an accurate count; the government’s Replan would have shortened it from six months to three months. A date extension approved by lawmakers could be vetoed by the president but still could add weight to challenges in court.
An undercount of hard-to-count communities, including the Black, Latino and AAPI communities, immigrants and undocumented Americans, would affect representation in Congress and local governments and affect disbursement of trillions of dollars in government assistance and social services, as well as the awarding of infrastructure projects in the cities, counties and states where large numbers of the hard-co-count communities reside.
The census also forms the sampling frame for thousands of surveys that impact decisionmaking over the next 10 years. All of these uses have long-term effects on public and private investments in communities—and particularly, communities of color.
The U.S. is undergoing a period of racial reckoning and the information from the Census is the basis for economic, social, marketing and business decisions.
Recent analyses show that the nation’s younger generations are the most racially diverse ever, with nonwhite racial groups accounting for more than half of all births and persons ages under 16. Because the white population is aging and declining in number among younger age groups, it is important that the 2020 census reflects the full diversity of the country’s youth. This will ensure that younger people of color and their families get their due in how political decisions are made, how funding gets allocated, and where schools, housing, hospitals, and employment sites are located. Investments in this young, diverse generation are critical for their—and the nation’s—future.
"We will all pay a huge price if they are undercounted in a flawed census," states an analysis from the nonpartisan Brookings Institute.
"If it isn’t stopped, the Trump administration’s last-ditch effort to hijack the 2020 census will have devastating, long-term consequences for the nation, especially its youth. Let us hope that Congress and the judicial system intervene in time to save this vital government institution."
EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this article is news laced with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.
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