It's purpose is more specific than that, actually. It was put in place to count citizens for purposes of representative proportioning. So, the question is therefore perfectly legitimate. In fact, how could the census be doing its job without it?
It doesn't say the count of citizens, it's a count of people. Link: Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse [sic] three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
Yes, that is the verbiage. Which is why I indicated what its purpose was, which your quote validates. FWIW, most of what the census asks for doesn't fit that need. Why ask about race, for example? or income? or any of the other questions? Census data is specifically prohibited from being used for any other purpose. It is ironic that the big government crowd is suddenly suspicious of government.
Seriously? Race is used for enforcement of various civil rights laws. For example, voting rights act enforcement is impossible if we don't have accurate counts of race. Income is used to determine how various grants are appropriated to states and local communities. There are key government functions that are absolutely dependent on census data. This isn't a "big government" thing. This is a matter of government functioning properly. And that depends on census data.
This is an excellent example of Trump's conservatism. You don't know how government works, you throw out a bunch of "common sense",and then propose it's been done incorrectly all this time. You're like the guy in class who didn't read the book but wants to argue with the professor about what the books means.
If I had reason to believe that questions about race or income or anything else would result in some kinds of people not being willing to fill it out, I would advocate for tossing those questions too.
at least the trump administration hasn't thought about rescinding naturalized citizens and taking away our citizenship. The disdain for immigrants is real and when you start blaming them for the problems of society or "stolen country" it can get dark quickly. I still think America we'll get out of this dystopian comedy alive.
If you just deported all the illegals then you wouldn't have to worry about a check box. Imagine that. Deport them and all of a sudden NY and California lose all those seats. All those electoral votes. Libs aren't afraid of illegal aliens rights, they are worried about 2018 and 2020. Without the illegals, our gov't would be closer in line politically with the actual citizen population counts. Republicans could control the house for another decade. No wonder NY and Cali are suing.
Ordinarily, I would agree, but I'd say that the Trump Admin's credibility with mixed-status households is low. After the betrayal on DACA, in light of Trump's play-to-win mantra, and in the current anti-immigrant atmosphere, I think it is rational for vulnerable people to distrust the census. No amount of marketing is going to overcome that fundamental weakness.
Census data is readily accessible. Do you hold banks and other business to high moral and ethical standards to not ever use such data with malice a forethought? That being asked, there could be plenty of ethical research done with such data. So why kill it?
Census bureau collects data outside the 10-year census. I think they can have all kinds of flexibility on what they do with that. I am only concerned with the one census that is used for the distribution of political power.
Yes it also means they aren't mini-vans. If you are saying it's going to be hard to round them up - don't worry, We won't have to. We will get them to self-deport.
This is idiotic. It's infringing on absolutely nothing. And stop conflating legal non-citizen immigrants with illegal aliens. It is lunacy to suggest that those who by law should not even be here be lumped in with those who should for purposes of apportionment of services and representatives.
My concern is that an undercount will result in underrepresentation of states that are overweight on immigrants in the House and the Electoral College, and that House districts will be drawn to underrepresent immigrant communities as well.
