From Common Cause (http://www.commoncause.org):
We deserve a fair, accurate Census in 2020 — but the Trump administration just announced their plan to rig it.1 We need your voice to fight back—go to https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-senators-demand-a-fair-and-accurate-2020-census.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced his plan to add an untested, last-minute question about citizenship status to the 2020 Census. Experts say this would dramatically skew the final results — and with it, the resources and political power our communities can access.2
If the 2020 Census includes this politicized question on citizenship status, it’ll undercount communities of color and others who feel intimidated by Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric — by discouraging them from participating at all. And since we use Census data to draw legislative districts, it’ll amplify the harm of gerrymandering — keeping fair representation in government out of reach for too many of us.
We should call this what it is: a politically-motivated attempt to racially rig the 2020 Census.
We deserve a fair democracy that represents us all — so we NEED to stop this by putting massive pressure on Congress, which has the power to stop this. Send a message to your senators now — pass S. 2580 to stop an unnecessary, discriminatory citizenship question on the 2020 Census. TAKE ACTION!
By law, the Census must count everyone who lives within the borders of our country, regardless of their citizenship status. But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s decision to include a question on citizenship threatens that constitutional requirement, and politicizes this process.
An accurate Census is essential in the redrawing of our congressional and legislative districts and budgeting decisions that impact our schools, hospitals, roads, and veterans. The Trump administration’s decision threatens the accuracy of data we use as nation to make essential decisions about our children’s future.
But there’s a clear political motive here — Donald Trump was fundraising off the prospect of a citizenship question just last week.3 Systematically undercounting our nation’s Latino population and other communities of color would tilt the balance of power towards Republicans for the next decade. This is just the latest attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate, threaten, and silence people of color — and it shouldn’t happen in 21st century America.
1) https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/trump-administration-creates-census-crisis-with-move-to-suppress-immigrant-responses/
2) https://www.usnews.com/opinion/op-ed/articles/2018-01-30/dont-ask-about-citizenship-on-the-2020-census
3) https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/trump-is-fundraising-off-a-question-that-would-scare-immigrants-away-from-the-census/
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