WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of
Commerce, which manages the Census Bureau, announced the 2020
Census will include a question that
asks the respondent whether they are a U.S. Citizen. This
action by the Secretary of Commerce was fully supported by the White House.
Including citizenship as one of the questions on the
2020 Census questionnaire is extremely worrisome. Specifically, adding this
question has major implications for immigrant communities and for the integrity
of fair allocation of Congressional representation. The National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) strongly disagrees with the proposed
addition of the citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
The Commerce Department’s actions came as a surprise to many mainstream political
and civic leaders. There is bipartisan opposition to
adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. This includes 60 members of
Congress; 161 Democratic and Republican mayors; six former Census directors who
served in Republican and Democratic administrations; 19 attorneys general; the
statistical community; and several dozen business leaders from across the
country.
We all rely on accurate census
data. Local community leaders use this data to make decisions about allocating
resources for community needs like education, assistance for veterans,
hospitals, and transportation. Additionally, the final census tally is of
enormous importance to the allocation of Congressional representation and the distribution
of federal funds to the states.
Adding a citizenship question will have a chilling effect on the participation of immigrant families and individuals. Even those who have legal status but are
not full citizens will be reluctant to participate in the 2020 Census. The
result of non-participation will be major undercounts that distort the actual
total population of the United States. It is important to remember that conducting
a national census is a constitutional mandate. More importantly, the
constitution dictates that the federal government must count the total
population of the country. This includes counting citizens and
non-citizens.
NASW will join forces with business leaders,
elected officials of all parties, our coalition of more than 200 organizations,
as well as grassroots and civic activists, to work on reversing this
unfortunate decision.
For more information, please contact:
Mel Wilson, Manager
Social Justice and Human Rights
Mwilson.NASW@socialworkers.org.