Citizenship questions skew data

The Justice Department has requested that the Census Bureau add a citizenship status question to the 2020 census. If it goes through, it will be the first time since 1950 that the census has such a question. 

This will not only keep more undocumented immigrants in the dark, it will discourage many legal residents from filling out the census, resulting in disproportionate government representation throughout the U.S. 

The question is set to be the very last question on the questionnaire and will give people five options: “Yes, born in the United States, Yes, Born in Puerto Rico, Guam, The U.S. Virgin Islands, or Northern Marianas, Yes, born abroad of U.S. citizen parent or parents, Yes, U.S. citizen by naturalization and No, not a U.S. citizen.” 

The Justice Department said they want to implement the question to enforce protection for minority voters, but to do so, they need detailed information from the census. 

The Census Bureau anticipates that a large number of people in the U.S. to not answer the last question, or completely ignore the questionnaire altogether, so they plan to use other resources to get complete information. 

According to the Pew Research Center, the Bureau is already studying how to use state and federal government information to fill in the missing questions. Some resources will includes IRS tax filings and Social Security records. 

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has defended the decision by saying the question has been on every census questionnaire since 1950, except for 2010 when it was removed. This is false. 

The president’s henchmen are trying to neutralize the situation by telling blatant lies about the citizenship question, but with a president who is persistent on getting rid of undocumented immigrants, it is clear that the Trump administration has a hidden agenda. 

Lawsuits have been filed regarding the question, so it may or may not pass the Department of Commerce to be added. 

Anyone living in the U.S., documented or not, has the human right to live their life without fear.

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