Several times I have posted information to this blog about Trump’s cruel, racist, partisan manipulation of the 2020 Census. Now he is doing it again in a different way.
See background here in this post from July 30, 2020: http://parallaxperspectives.org/trumps-latest-scheme-to-use-the-2020-census-to-hurt-immigrants-and-democrats
See this NEWER INFORMATION:
In early August 2020 the Coalition on Human Needs (www.chn.org) reported this:
The Trump administration is planning to end the constitutionally required U.S. Census before it is even completed. Missing children and vulnerable people throughout our country would have a devastating two-fold effect for the next decade: cutting funding for a wide range of programs that have funding formulas derived from Census data, and stealing representation of vulnerable populations in Congress.
In effect, Trump knows the country doesn’t support his efforts to undermine our services and communities. So he is attempting to cheat how our democracy functions. He is trying to undermine the effectiveness of the constitutionally-mandated Census.
In early August 2020 Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com) reported this:
The U.S. Census Bureau has confirmed they are closing operations one month early, which would make it impossible to get an accurate count. Donald Trump is sabotaging the census, which would have dire consequences for the next 10 years. Marginalized communities would not be counted, and get unfairly shortchanged on federal funding and voter representation.
Four former Census directors have urged Congress to mandate its original extension so the Census can accomplish its constitutional mandate. The HEROES Act, which the House passed two months ago, but is stalled in the Senate, would do that—along with urgently needed pandemic relief that extends unemployment benefits, funds election security, and rescues the Postal Service.
The good news? Mitch McConnell admitted this week that he needs Senate Democrats to pass pandemic relief, because the Republicans are in such disarray. That means we have the upper hand, and now is the time to put pressure on all senators to support the HEROES Act.
Call Senator Patty Murray at (202) 224-2621 and Senator Maria Cantwell at (202) 224-3441. When you reach an aide, leave the following message:
Hello, my name is ________ calling from [zip code] in [city]. I am outraged that the U.S. Census is shutting down one month early. The HEROES Act—which passed the House two months ago—would allow it to do its job, along with urgently needed pandemic relief. Please support the HEROES Act.
On August 11, 2020, Common Cause (www.commoncause.org) reported this progress in their lawsuit to protect the 2020 Census from Trump’s abuses: (You may ignore the numbered footnotes or look for sources on their website.)
We are in an all-hands-on-deck moment for the 2020 Census.
President Trump has just dramatically escalated his attacks on a fair and accurate count — with last week’s announcement that the Census will end one month early.
That’s right — they’re planning to stop the 2020 Census early, with the final count still incomplete and millions left uncounted. [1]
Similar to Trump’s previous attacks — like trying to edit undocumented people out of the final count or impose a citizenship question — this will hit Black and Brown communities and young children the hardest.
And as you’re probably aware, an undercount will mean fewer public resources — like schools and firetrucks — and less political representation for people already on the margins.
That’s what makes this latest move so egregious. Nobody believes that a rushed, underfunded Census will deliver an accurate count — especially during a nationwide pandemic.
And, ending the count early poses a real risk of the Census results being fundamentally illegitimate, potentially forcing a costly and time-consuming recount effort and throwing our representative democracy into chaos.
That’s why Common Cause has sued the Trump administration over its Census manipulation [2] — the President needs to learn that the 2020 Census is off-limits to his political meddling. And we are vigorously lobbying Congress to give the Census Bureau the time and resources it needs to conduct an accurate and equitable count.
But we also must prepare for the nightmare scenario — if Trump and his cronies succeed in rigging the Census, and it produces results that systematically undercount millions of Americans.
As I write, we’re actively exploring every possible option to restore the integrity of the 2020 Census and get the accurate count that government agencies, businesses, and charities rely on.
Remember, this is part of a years-long effort by far-right political operatives to rig our system and silence millions of Americans. We’ve uncovered documents from the GOP’s top redistricting strategist that outline this exact strategy [3] — and now, we’re fighting in federal court to stop it.
Another August 2020 report confirmed that the U.S. Census bureau is shutting down its nationwide data collection one month early:
