The 2020 Census

Would a citizenship question undermine the count?

Introduction

The Supreme Court is expected to decide by the end of June whether the 2020 census can ask respondents if they are U.S. citizens. Liberals and many census experts say the question could lead up to 6.5 million people, especially undocumented immigrants fearful of deportation, to refuse to fill out the census, ultimately diminishing Democratic political power. But Republicans say the nation needs an accurate tally of undocumented immigrants and that a citizenship question would help the Trump administration enforce the Voting Rights Act. Census accuracy has enormous political, economic and civic ramifications. The count determines the number of House seats in each state and how $880 billion in federal money is allocated to the states annually. In addition, demographers, economists, corporate planners and many ...

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