WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) joined Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and a bipartisan group of 23 of their colleagues in demanding the U.S. Census Bureau rescind a proposed rule that would exclude certain non-citizens from census counts and eliminate questions on race and ethnicity.
In their letter, the senators warn that the exclusion of non-citizens violates the Constitution, which expressly says that the census must count the “whole number of persons in each state.” The Census Bureau has proposed two methods by which it would exclude non-citizens, both of which would cause undercounts and errors in the census counts.
“We write to urge that you rescind your proposed rule that would exclude certain non-citizens from decennial census counts and omit questions about race and ethnicity from the decennial census. The proposed rule violates the clear meaning of the Constitution, which requires that the Census Bureau count the ‘whole number of persons in each state.’ The proposed rule would also cause communities across the country to be counted inaccurately, jeopardizing their fair representation in Congress and access to billions of federal dollars for education, health care, and public safety services,” the senators wrote.
The letter also describes how the Bureau’s proposal to eliminate race and ethnicity questions would undermine the enforcement of civil and voting rights laws and would degrade the quality of all census data. Businesses and local governments that depend on such data have said that they would be harmed by this proposed rule.
“In its attempt to undermine the data used for the enforcement of civil and voting rights laws, the Bureau will degrade the accuracy of all other federal survey data, particularly for small and rural geographic areas. The Bureau writes in its own regulatory filing that the proposed rule ‘deteriorates the accuracy’ of ‘fertility/mortality rates, cancer rates, poverty rates, unemployment rates, [and] labor force participation’ because the Bureau relies on accurate decennial census information to adjust and design other survey estimates,” the senators continued. “The Bureau also admits in its filing that the proposal would hamper the usability of data for state and local governments who rely on precise and accurate population estimates for small geographic areas. Businesses and local governments that depend on reliable and complete federal data have warned that the Census Bureau’s proposal would increase costs as data is degraded.”
Joining Senators Gallego, Peters, and Kim in sending the letter were Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (D-ME), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Read the full letter HERE.