DOJ Wants Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

The DOJ is pushing for a question on citizenship to be added to the 2020 Census. This move will likely depress participation by immigrants who fear that the government could use the information against them. That, in turn, could have potentially large ripple effects for everything the once-a-decade Census determines -- from how congressional seats are distributed around the country to where hundreds of billions of federal dollars are spent. The DOJ made the request in a previously unreported letter, dated December 12th and obtained by ProPublica. The letter argues that the DOJ needs better citizenship data to better enforce the Voting Rights Act “and its important protections against racial discrimination in voting.” More here.