Political power shouldn’t be set by rigged census counts
Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats are determined to beat President Trump next year — on the ballot, and in the census count.
There’s widespread suspicion that Trump is gaming the decennial census to reduce California’s political clout and federal funding.
Trump dislikes California. And it’s understandable. The state is his peskiest tormentor, resisting much of what he tries to do — especially his efforts to block unlawful immigration and deport migrants here illegally.
The president is striking back at California by placing on the census questionnaire — if the Supreme Court allows him, as expected — a query asking people whether they are U.S. citizens. He insists the information is needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act.
California officials fear many undocumented immigrants won’t participate in the census, even though they’re not being asked about their legal status. But federal funding of state and local programs is based on population. And so is the apportionment of congressional seats. California could lose billions of federal dollars and at least one House seat — along with an Electoral College vote that helps determine who wins the presidency.
So Newsom has asked the Legislature for $55 million — on top of $100.3 million previously approved under Gov. Jerry Brown — for a robust campaign to persuade all Californians to fill out census questionnaires. The governor appointed Secretary of State Alex Padilla to run the operation.
The U.S. government used census data in World War II to round up Japanese Americans and send them to internment camps. It’s now illegal to use census information that way. But Trump’s record hardly engenders trust.
“Everyone’s talking about Manzanar,” says USC demographics professor Dowell Myers, referring to the former internment camp in Owens Valley near Mount Whitney. “Just discussing this generates fear.”
Myers, a longtime Census Bureau adviser, adds, “The real problem here is that the president seems intent on overturning all conventions and destroying vital trusts. He’s sowing dissension and chaos at a time when we need stability.”
There are 2.2 million immigrants in California illegally, according to a recent Pew Research
Center estimate. Under the U.S. Constitution, they’re supposed to be counted like everyone else.
Newsom, the Democratic establishment and activist groups are also concerned that citizen immigrants won’t participate, fearful of tipping off the household presence of undocumented relatives.
Also, the 2020 census will be the first conducted online, though many don’t have internet access. They’ll be contacted personally.
Experts anticipate a 2.7 percent undercount. Newsom’s finance department estimates it would short California’s total population by 1.1 million residents. Each person not counted means $1,100 less annually in federal money — over a decade, a $12 billion loss.
California would drop from 53 to 52 congressional seats for the first time. And our electoral votes would fall from 55 to 54. Congressional districts would become geographically larger with urban seats spreading toward the suburbs.
Newsom and Democrats are treating the census like a political campaign, with TV and radio ads, photo-ops and door-to-door canvassers.
“It’ll be unprecedented for a census,” Padilla says. “We’re going to every corner of the state.”
As a journalist, I’m all for collecting as much information as possible about almost everything. Sure, I’m curious to know the exact breakdown of citizens and noncitizens. But in this case, the questioner can’t be trusted.
Reductions in federal funding and shifts in political power should be decided in Congress and elections — not in rigged census surveys.