Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census form will serve no useful purpose, but will trigger mistrust, depress response rates, debase the quality of the information gathered, and increase the cost to taxpayers, the SPLC said in comments submitted today to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The SPLC urged the government to drop the proposal, citing an âatmosphere of extreme fear in immigrant communitiesâ stemming from the Trump administrationâs aggressive enforcement actions and President Trumpâs own incendiary words about immigrants.
The SPLC cited the experience of Alabama, which enacted a law in 2011 that required a citizenship question for children enrolling in public school. On the first Monday after the law took effect, more than 2,000 Latino students were absent from schools across the state.
âMany families in immigrant communities fear being targeted by a government willing to tear apart families and cage the children of asylum seekers,â the SPLC wrote. âIn this context, a citizenship question will chill response rates, particularly among communitiesâsuch as low-income rural and urban families, people of color, and immigrant familiesâthat are already at greater risk of being undercounted.â
The SPLCâs comments can be read below.
A commentary by SPLC President Richard Cohen can be read here.