Is it fair to ask about citizenship on the census?

@windinhishair Well, that's splitting hairs, isn't it?
If we knew how many were citizens, the census becomes more valuable, don't you think?

@Budwick So those with more non-citizens would be punished? Does that seem fair to Texas and Florida?

@hlpflwthat

Punished? No.
Accurately counted - Yes.

@Budwick And you expect that people would be more willing to be accurately counted if they are expected to disclose their status?

@hlpflwthat

They already ask everything except for the size of your asshole.
Why would "Are you a citizen?" be off putting?

@Budwick The sole purpose of the question is to depress the count so those areas are under respresented. That's why Trump doesn't want the truth to come out.

@Budwick UNable to answer the question. I see. [b]YOU[/b] are the face of the Republican Party. Carry on.

@windinhishair Well, if we know how many non-citizens there are, you have a whole new group you can support!

@hlpflwthat I answered your question.

@Budwick And you know how many people to despise and attack.

@windinhishair Or to not count for congressional redistricting purposes.

@Budwick Just another way to ensure that the minority of Americans can rule over the majority.

@Budwick [quote]And you expect that people would be more willing to be accurately counted if they are expected to disclose their status?[/quote]

@hlpflwthat No.
I don't think the census bureau gave much thought to the willingness. Well, other than creating penalties for refusing or lying.

[b][i]Under Title 13 of the U.S. Code, you can be fined up to $100 for refusing to complete a census form and $500 for answering questions falsely. However, the Website for the U.S. Census Bureau points out that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 effectively increased these minimum fines to $5,000.[/i][/b]

@Budwick I didn't expect you think it would make folks more willing.

If the new census question were such an innocent & unconsidered addition, seems The Dept of Commerce could walk over to the House and answer questions from the Oversight Committee without dragging the DOJ along.

But I know logical thought has no place in this administration.

@hlpflwthat [quote]I didn't expect you think it would make folks more willing.
[/quote]

[b]And yet, that's exactly what you asked![/b]

It could be that the 'resistance' questions everyfuckingthing the Trump administration does too.

No, you're probably right, they have some nefarious reason for wanting to know how many non-citizens there are in the country. That's why they ask for your race you know. So they can release the selective genocide juice just to kill certain races! [that's sarcasm by the way. please don't break the Internet looking for that.]

@Budwick Lol - jesus. I'm saying that [b][i]no one[/i][/b] thinks Latinos will more willingly fill out the census if required to declare status - not even you.

I appreciate you being honest enough to answer. And I agree it needn't be nefarious to 'want to know how many undocumented people are in the country.' It's hard finding 10 or 15 million people.

Where we part ways is at the belief that using the census to collect declarations of undocumented status will result in an accurate counting of the population - the purpose of a census. Nor do I think that asking for status declaration will result in any better estimate of our undocumented population. Do you?

This is the face of the Republican Party today. "We are going to pretend that we believe we will get a better count, even though every bit of logic says we won't. All this so our leader can have a win today. We'll punish our [b][i]own[/i][/b] home state - forfeit funding & representation ... so the leader gets a win. If life isn't already challenging enough in areas where undocumented people concentrate, we'll punish the documented people who live there even more. Red or blue, north or south, those areas will suffer ... so the leader can have a win."

This is the face of the Republican Party.

@hlpflwthat [quote] using the census to collect declarations of undocumented status [/quote]

Seems there problem is that they're undocumented.

So, get documented, DUH!

@Budwick @hlpflwthat @windinhishair
Okay people, try to pay attention here: Representation in Congress is based off the number of human being breathing air in a given area, NOT the number of citizens in said area. Asking if you are a citizen on the census form will not impact re-districting at all.

The choice of who represents that district is a choice made by citizens through the electoral process (a process that needs to be zealously guarded).

As for whether or not asking any particular demographic question will suppress census responses, this is simply absurd. The census already asks questions FAR beyond it's constitutional mandate and no one complains about that (well ... I do ... but no one listens). Many of the questions already being asked likely suppress enthusiasm for the census. As for this question, I see no reason why any citizen or legal resident would hesitate to answer proudly.

@sarabee1995 [quote]try to pay attention here[/quote]

From the census website - The Census Bureau's mission is to serve as the nation's leading provider of quality data about its people and economy. We honor privacy, protect confidentiality, share our expertise globally, and conduct our work openly

Maybe you should tell them what their purpose is.

@Budwick I don't have to. The constitution already does.

@sarabee1995 People who are here illegally, and breathe the air, will hesitate to indicate their status on the census. The Trump Administration cannot be trusted to handle their responses confidentially. They've proven that time and time again. This will reduce the number of people believed to live in certain areas and WILL impact redistricting.

@windinhishair [quote][i][b]"People who are here illegally, and breathe the air, will hesitate to indicate their status on the census."[/b][/i][/quote]
Wait ... are you saying that you think our Congressional districting [i][b]should[/b][/i] be based on populations of people who are living here illegally?? Is that really what you are saying?

[quote][i][b]"This will reduce the number of people believed to live in certain areas and WILL impact redistricting."[/b][/i][/quote]
The Census bureau already knows that it's physical count is not accurate and uses advanced statistical algorithms to adjust the count. There is no reason to believe they would stop doing this.

@sarabee1995 Of course it should. It is based on the number of people living in the area surveyed. Period.

Not all undercounts will be adjusted, particularly by this administration. I wouldn't be surprised if they don't count legal immigrants properly either, to punish blue states. Trump has already shown he isn't bound by the law any more.