On September 10th, the Census Bureau announced sweeping changes to how we count people on the census. The proposed rule would:
- Count only US citizens and green card holders.
- NOT count other visa holders or undocumented immigrants.
- Stop collecting race and ethnicity data.
- Ban the collection of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) data from any future Census Bureau surveys, including the census.
- Create bad and unreliable federal data.
- Erode a key doctrine of representation: “one person, one vote.”
In short, it will have major adverse effects across daily life in our democracy. These changes will severely distort population counts, create inaccurate representations of communities during apportionment and redistricting, and disrupt how state and local governments plan essential public services.
Not only are these changes unprecedented and unconstitutional, but the Census Bureau is also giving the public only 33 days to comment on a rule-changing process that would normally take months and include at least 90 days of public comment for every incremental change. With only 33 days given for public comment, now is the time to make your voice heard before October 13th.
Tell Secretary Lutnick and the Census Bureau to roll back these proposed rules and to extend the public comment period until December 9th.