State officials filed a lawsuit Tuesday in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to add a question in the U.S. 2020 Census concerning applicants’ citizenship status, according to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross wrote a memo on March 26 asking Karen Dunn Kelley, undersecretary for the Economic Affairs branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, announcing the reinstatement of a citizenship-status question in the 2020 decennial census questionnaire.
“As you know, on Dec. 12, 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested that the Census Bureau reinstate a citizenship question on the decennial census to provide census block-level citizenship voting age population (CV AP) data that are not currently available from government survey data,” the memo reads. “DOJ and the courts use CV AP data for determining violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), and having these data at the census block-level will permit more effective enforcement of the Act.”
According to the DOJ website (justice.gov), Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in one of the language minority groups identified in Section 4 of the Act.
Ross’s memo also states that he “set out to take a hard look at the request, and ensure that [he] considered all facts and data relevant to the question.” The citizenship-related question would also ensure the prioritization of “complete and accurate data,” according to Ross.
Becerra stated in his lawsuit that the question regarding citizenship status could discourage immigrants to answer the questionnaire, which could lead to inaccurate counts of the population.
A news release from the California Attorney General’s office states that an accurate population count of all individuals— regardless of citizenship status— is mandated every 10 years under the U.S. Constitution. In addition to determining Congressional representation and distribution of federal funding, an accurate population count enables states and localities to identify the need for critical services such as disaster relief, infrastructure projects, public-health assistance, schools, police and fire protection.
In response to a question from the Signal Tribune Thursday regarding how safe from deportation respondents who answer “non-citizen” on the census are, 47th District Congressmember Alan Lowenthal said U.S. Code Title 13 prohibits Census Bureau employees from sharing data with any government agency or court.
“However, if the question is included— and without a massive outreach from the Census Bureau to immigrant and minority communities— a push the White House has yet to commit to,” Lowenthal said, “it is safe to assume there will be the perception that information could be shared.”
When asked how the addition of the question will affect how political districts are drawn within California, Lowenthal said congressional districts are, under the Constitution and U.S. law, based on total population, not voters or voting-eligible persons.
“The possible undercounting of immigrant or minority communities would mean they are diluted in political representation, not to mention federal funding,” he said. “Long Beach saw a similar situation happen in the 1990 Census, when large numbers of recently immigrated Cambodian refugees from the Khmer Rouge refused to participate in the Census, because in Cambodia the Khmer Rouge had used census data to target victims. The Cambodian community in Long Beach wound up severely undercounted and underrepresented until the 2000 Census. We can’t let something like that happen to communities throughout the country.”
The congressmemember days earlier had stated his disapproval of the census question via Twitter.
“The Constitution requires the census to count every person in the country, not just citizens,” his tweet reads. “The Trump Administration’s decision to add a question regarding citizenship could discourage participation and distort the accuracy of our most vital government data. The results of the census help allocate representatives, electoral votes, government funding and are essential to long-term economic planning. They must be as accurate as possible. I stand with [Becerra’s] lawsuit against this divisive and unconstitutional action.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) also disagreed with the decision to add the question to the census. DNC spokesperson Vedant Patel released a statement in which he said, “California— home to millions of immigrants, many not yet citizens— would see dire consequences from a highly flawed and inaccurate census count.”
Ronna McDaniel, Republican National Committee (RNC) chair, questioned the opposing views from her Democratic colleagues.
In a YouTube video linked through the Grand Old Party’s website (gop.com), the RNC chair said the question concerning citizenship status had been in the census “for years and years.”
“They are mad that the census asks that simple question,” she said. “Why wouldn’t we want to know if you are a citizen of our country?”
Between 1820 and 1950, almost every decennial census asked a question on citizenship in some form, according to a press release from the Department of Commerce.
There seems to be a discrepancy between statements from Ross and Becerra concerning the accuracy of data collected via the census. While Ross believes that the question will provide exact data, Becerra said in the news release that the question will not provide factual results.
“California simply has too much to lose to allow the Trump Administration to botch this important decennial obligation,” Becerra said in the news release. “What the Trump Administration is requesting is not just alarming, it is an unconstitutional attempt to disrupt an accurate census count.”
The California lawsuit states that including a citizenship question in the Census Bureau’s 2020 questionnaire violates the following: Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, which requires the “actual enumeration” of all people in each state every 10 years, and the Administrative Procedure Act prohibition against “arbitrary and capricious” agency action.
In the past, Becerra voiced his disapproval of the decision to add a citizenship-status question to the census.
On Feb. 12, he co-led a coalition of 19 attorneys general in sending a letter to Ross, cautioning that a citizenship question would violate the Constitution and federal statutes.
“Fair, proportionate electoral representation in our democracy depends on valid census data,” the letter reads. “The proposal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaire would defeat that goal, violate the Constitution and undermine the purposes of the Voting Rights Act that the Justice Department claims it wants to protect. Because inclusion of a citizenship question would threaten the Census Bureau’s ability to conduct its constitutionally mandated role and would be arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act— causing significant, direct harm to our states and residents— we urge you to reject the Justice Department’s request.”
