Houstonians welcome ruling on census query
The Supreme Court’s decision to put on hold the Trump administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census form filled Christina Quintero with joy.
“It’s wonderful!” said the 33-year-old of Mexican ancestry who had contemplated boycotting the citizen question as a protest. “To me, adding that question is a scare tactic the Trump administration is trying to use to suppress not only the vote but the Latino power and representation.”
The high court announced the decision on Thursday that, at least for now, stops the Census Bureau from asking residents next year if they are U.S. citizens. The census is a constitutionally mandated survey conducted every ten years to count all people living in the United States.
In a section agreed with by the court’s liberals, Chief Justice John Roberts said the Commerce Department must provide a clearer explanation. “Altogether, the evidence (presented by the government) tells a story that does not match the explanation the secretary (of Commerce Wilbur Ross) gave for his decision” to include the question in the Census, Roberts wrote about the case
The highest court “didn’t rule in favor or against the executive branch right to include the citizenship question” in the census, said Jeronimo Cortina, a political science professor at the University of Houston and associate director of its Center for Mexican American Studies.
Cortina said that, instead, “the court decided that the executive branch did not provide a sufficient rationale to explain their interest in including the question in the census.”
“We remain concerned about this attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate a specific portion of our community that ultimately would harm the nonpartisan goal of getting an accurate census tally,” said Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo in a statement.
Hidalgo echoed concerns that the question would result in a significant undercount of the population.
“Including a citizenship question could intimidate immigrants, leading to lower response rates from certain populations,” the county leader said. She added that the fourth most populous county in the nation, where 1 in 4 residents is foreign-born, could “possibly cost us at least one congressional seat as well as federal funding to the tune of approximately $1,500 per undercounted person.”
That estimate does not take into account potential family members and relatives of unauthorized immigrants who may not participate in the census if it included the question.
The Texas Organizing Project, one of the largest civic engagement organization in the state, will increase its community engagement efforts for census participation after the announcement from the Supreme Court, said Gaby Lastres, an activist with the group. “We are going to knock on doors and make sure that they know about this decision.”
Mi Familia Vota, another large organization focusing on Latinos and immigrant communities, said it too, is upping engagement plans.
“It is very clear that including the question of citizenship was an intentional effort by the Republican Party to limit the influence and power of the Latino community, but we are not going to give up in our fight to engage people in this process, and especially young people and new minority voters,” said Carlos Duarte, Texas state director of Mi Familia Vota.