Census 2010 In Peril: Senate To Act

Monday, October 12,2009

A press release issued by The Census Project today announces that the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on an amendment this week to the pending 2010 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill, which would have the effect of excluding undocumented residents and possible non-citizens from being counted as part of Census 2010 for purposes of congressional apportionment. The amendment to the Census Bureau's FY 2010 budget, included in the CJS appropriations bill, will be offered by Senators David Vitter (R-La.) and Bob Bennett (R-Utah).

"Since our first decennial census was taken in 1790 under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, we have counted all residents of the United States," stakeholders of the Census Project declared in a letter sent to all Senators today. "The consequence of the Vitter/Bennett amendment would end this practice for purposes of congressional apportionment, even though all previous Republican and Democratic Administrations have concluded that excluding non-citizens from the apportionment base would be unconstitutional."

The Census Project is a collaboration of state and local governments, civil rights and labor groups, housing and child advocates, businesses, and research organizations interested in a fair and accurate Census 2010.

The Census Project letter also spelled out major operational considerations that would "seriously impede the next decennial census" if the Vitter/Bennett amendment becomes law, including:
• The Census Bureau could not conduct the 2010 census on its current schedule, thus delaying not only the constitutionally and legally required (Title 13, U.S.C.) population count, but apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and congressional and state legislative redistricting.
• The 2010 census would include a question that is untested, which is scientifically and operationally irresponsible and risky.
• The cost of adding a question at this juncture goes well beyond reprinting 2010 census forms or adding an addendum to the form. A new question would require new promotional and informational materials, advance letters, data capture and processing systems, instructional materials for all census workers, and assistance guides in 59 languages. The ongoing American Community Survey would need to be changed to conform to the census questionnaire. The mailing packages for census forms would be affected.
"In the interests of fairness and cost, and in light of the clear constitutional violation suggested by the sponsors, we urge you to vote against this amendment," the Census Project letter concluded.

More than 30 organizations and census experts signed the letter, including Louis Kincannon, former Census Bureau director; the AFL-CIO; the American Sociological Association; the Arab American Institute Foundation; the Asian American Justice Center; the Japanese American Citizens League; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights; the NAACP; and the Population Association of America.

A full copy of the Census Project letter is available at here.

In a related development, four former Census Bureau directors issued a statement today saying that if the Vitter/Bennett amendment passes, it would put the accuracy of Census 2010 "at risk" and would "likely delay the start of the census and all subsequent activities, such as reapportionment of the House of Representatives."

Also, Census Project consultant Terri Ann Lowenthal has written a blog on the same subject. You can visit the blog here.