Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross’ decision Monday to add a controversial question on citizenship to the 2020 census came in the face of opposition from career officials at the Census Bureau who fear it will depress response rates, especially from immigrants.
Two people with knowledge of the deliberations said career leaders in the Census Bureau, which is part of the Commerce Department, had scrambled to come up with alternatives to adding the question. Those efforts were unsuccessful.
In a memo announcing his decision, Ross said that “The Census Bureau and many stakeholders expressed concern that [a citizenship question] would negatively impact the response rate for non-citizens.”
But Ross added that “neither the Census Bureau nor the concerned stakeholders could document that the response rate would in fact decline materially.”
The Census Bureau recently noted greater fear and reluctance to fill out the survey in the current political climate. In a November presentation, a bureau official cited a recent increase in respondents expressing concerns about confidentiality of data related to immigration. It cited particular concerns among participants in what it labeled an Arabic focus group and among Spanish-speaking respondents.
A census spokesman referred questions to the Commerce Department, which didn’t immediately respond to questions. The Ross memo argues that the value of the data collected from the new question will outweigh any harm.
ProPublica first reported in December that the Justice Department had submitted a last-minute request that the Census Bureau add a question on citizenship to the 2020 survey. The Justice Department argued that better data on citizens was needed to better enforce voting rights protections for minority groups. But civil rights groups and Democrats fear that the question will lower response rates, affecting congressional redistricting and distribution of federal dollars for a decade.
It would be the first time since 1950 that the full, once-a-decade census asks people about their citizenship. The Constitution requires a count of all residents of the country every ten years. The Census Bureau conducts a separate detailed survey of a sample of U.S. households that includes questions about citizenship.
The driving force behind the request for the new question, according to internal emails, was a Justice Department political appointee who spent years as an attorney in private practice defending GOP redistricting maps around the country. That raised even more concerns among civil rights groups that opposed the addition of a citizenship question.
In response to Ross’ decision, the state of California filed a federal lawsuit Monday night in U.S. district court seeking to block the question. “California simply has too much to lose for us to allow the Trump Administration to botch this important decennial obligation,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “What the Trump Administration is requesting is not just alarming, it is an unconstitutional attempt to discourage an accurate census count.”
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Yep, that about captures it – Still another “best and brightest” Trump sycophant jamming his fingers in his ears while executing the Fuhrer’s wet dreams.
Kudos on the photo selection.
“The driving force behind the request for the new question, according to internal emails, was a Justice Department political appointee who spent years as an attorney in private practice defending GOP redistricting maps around the country.”
I am shocked, shocked I say, that a partisan political hack is behind the DOJ request to the Census Bureau. If you’ll excuse me, I must retrieve my monocle from my martini glass.
Donc Wilbur dit:
It’s really convenient that the last large-scale test of the systems for the 2020 Census took place last year, ain’t it, Wilbur? Because that means there is no way to ascertain whether the question will affect response rates, doesn’t it?
Have I mentioned lately how much I hate these people? Now I need to wash my hands for allow them to refer to the likes of Wilbur as a person.
So, listen to this, Wilbur. This is straight from the mouth of Mr. Ed:
For the first time in my adult life I will not participate in the U.S. Decennial Census. Did you get that, Wilbur? I’m not fucking playing in 2020. I’m going to be in the undercount.
One of the bigger criminals in the trump mob ring, and one of the biggest Russian money launderers also too.
“But Ross added that “neither the Census Bureau nor the concerned stakeholders could document that the response rate would in fact decline materially.”
Decline materially? What’s that supposed to mean? It sounds important, but, really, it’s just snake talk.