Previously I have posted information on this blog about Trump’s desire to ask a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Look for those posts on my blog’s “Immigration” and “Trump” categories.
This is part of his racist, anti-immigrant efforts that intersects with the Republican Party’s intense corruption to deny fairness to people who live in Democratic localities. It also intersects with the Trump/Republican hostility to truth and honest scientific inquiry, which the Census should be promoting.
In early April 2019 a THIRD federal judge has stopped Trump’s citizenship question on the 2020 census. See this article: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/4/5/1848049/-Third-judge-halts-Trump-Administration-s-citizenship-question-on-the-2020-Census?detail=emailLL
In early March 2019 a SECOND federal judge blocked Trump from adding a citizenship question on the 2020 census. See this article: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/3/6/1840033/-Second-court-blocks-Trump-from-adding-a-citizenship-question-on-the-2020-census?detail=emailLL
The Trump regime will likely appeal these federal judicial decisions all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On April 1, 2019, Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com, a Democrat-leaning entity) reported that the 2020 census will begin on April 1, 2020. Their e-mail reported the following:
The government will collect data to determine how many representatives each state gets in Congress, how our voting districts are drawn, and how federal aid will be allocated to our local communities for schools, hospitals, infrastructure, and more.
Trump’s intrusive and racist citizenship question looms over the census and threatens its accuracy. This unnecessary question will suppress responses from immigrants and communities of color. That means this question also endangers funding, resources, and representation to vulnerable communities.
The Census IDEA Act (https://maloney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-maloney-introduces-bill-to-protect-2020-census-prohibit-citizenship?link_id=0&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-calls-needed-stop-the-racist-citizenship-question-on-the-us-census&email_referrer=email_521533___subject_672421&email_subject=census-2020-starts-one-year-from-today-please-read) was introduced in the House to remove the citizenship question from appearing on the 2020 census. Congress must act NOW to remove this harmful question which undermines the accuracy and integrity of vital census data.
Call Representative Denny Heck at (202) 225-9740 [OR WHOEVER YOUR U.S. REPREXSENATIVE IS AT WHATEVER THEIR PHONE NUMBER IS]. Urge them to defend the Census by supporting the Census IDEA Act now. Here’s a sample script you can use:
Hello my name is ____________ and I’m from zip code _________. We cannot allow the 2020 census to end in a failed count due to the last-minute addition of a citizenship question that was not properly vetted or tested. Census data is too important to our communities to compromise it with unnecessary questions. Please work to pass the Census IDEA Act immediately. Thank you.
SIGN AND SEND THIS PETITION
Two federal courts have already ordered the administration to remove the question. A federal judge ruled that Trump administration officials intentionally misrepresented the motivations for asking about citizenship status on the census form, and that the government already has a number of ways to determine this information.
Adding a citizenship question to the census is a clear move by the Trump administration to intimidate immigrants–documented and undocumented alike–and further target them for deportation.
Intimidating immigrants has the added bonus of creating even worse undercounts in broader communities of color, which will starve them of critical federal dollars to support education, health care, and roads and bridges, as well as representatives in Congress. We CANNOT leave this decision to a drawn out court battle.
ALSO, COMMON CAUSE URGES YOU TO SEND THIS PETITION.