Census

As Americans prepare for the 2020 census, there's a movement afoot that would negatively affect the count. The Trump administration wants to ask respondents about their citizenship or legal status on the census form, a query that in the context of today's supercharged immigration debates would lead millions of people – citizens and non-citizens – to ignore the form or return it blank.

Federal elections are the pillar of our national democracy, and the decennial census is the foundation for those elections and assuring that every person is counted accurately and has fair political representation. That makes the responsibility of the Census Bureau to carry out an accurate and fair census a critical charge. Everything from how we are represented in Congress to community resources for our schools, hospitals, and assistance to veterans depends on reliable and accurate census data.

The Trump administration appears ready to install a gerrymandering advocate in the number two job at the Census Bureau.

Politics have no business in the Census but the Trump Administration’s leading candidate for the deputy director slot at the Census Bureau, Thomas Brunell, would introduce blatant partisan politics into the national headcount. Discontent from Capitol Hill over Brunell’s political partisanship may have scuttled his candidacy for the top slot at the bureau but as deputy director he skirts the confirmation process.

A group of lawmakers launched an effort Wednesday to increase Census Bureau funding by $438 million in order to accurately conduct the 2020 census

Another in a series of reports from Common Cause New York's 2017 summer interns