Trump Administration Again Attempts to Add Racist Citizenship Question to Census

Statement of Karen Hobert Flynn, Common Cause President

Now that the Trump Administration’s attempted whitewash of their motives for demanding a citizenship question have been exposed, they are scrambling to contrive a new reason. As the documents of GOP gerrymanderer Thomas Hofeller turned over to attorneys in the Common Cause v. Lewis case show, the purpose of the question has always been to advantage “Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites” in redistricting to the detriment of Latinos and other families of color. Combined with recent statements by ICE officials indicating plans to use census information for immigration enforcement, the true motives – anti-Latino, racial animus – driving addition of the citizenship question is increasingly undeniable.

The Administration’s efforts to weaponize the 2020 Census against immigrant communities for racial and political advantage are unconstitutional and un-American. We are going down a dangerous path toward the disintegration of our democratic principles of equal representation.

To view the court filing and Hofeller-related exhibits of the citizenship question, click here.