Illegals and the Census

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the question of whether or not the 2020 census should include people who are in the United States illegally. The Census is used for a number of different reasons and ways. One very important way that the Census is used is to determine which areas of the United States need more or fewer representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives.

            Arthur E. Gary, general counsel for the Department of Justice, sent a three-page letter dated December 12, 2017, to Dr. Ron Jarmin of the Census Bureau. Gary requested in his letter that the Bureau reinstate on the 2020 Census questionnaire a question regarding citizenship. I hope that you noticed the word “reinstate.” The DOJ is claiming that they need an accurate counting of citizens in order to enforce the Voting Rights Act.

            Liberals are up in arms about the idea. They need the illegals to be counted in order to have more Democrat representatives. They claim that such a question on the questionnaire would frighten illegals from participating in the Census. Columnist Rick Moran has a question about the liberal hysteria. 

I fail to see how such a question could generate controversy. Illegal aliens are already very distrustful of the census so it’s hard to see how one question would make it worse. They really needn’t worry. The Census Bureau cannot share information from the census with Homeland Security or any other federal agency due to confidentiality laws.

Instead of getting hysterical about adding the citizenship question, perhaps illegal alien advocates could explain to them they are in no danger of discovery from the Census Bureau. That would be a far more productive use of their time and energy.

            It appears that the United States Government has an important need to know the number of citizens in the country. This number is needed for both representation and for voting rights verification. I say put the question on questionnaire!