Move for citizenship question in Census criticized

WASHINGTON DC: The Democratic National Committee and the Center for American Progress have denounced the U.S. Department of Commerce decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Democratic National Committee (DNC) spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a statement, “This latest ploy by Donald Trump and his administration is an attempt to silence the voices of millions of immigrants, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) – who are the fastest-growing immigrant group in the United States.

“By including this question, the Commerce Department is paving the way for a highly flawed and inaccurate census count that could jeopardize AAPI communities’ representation in Congress and the allocation of critical resources that many AAPI families – citizens and non-citizens alike – rely on. Democrats will fight this decision tooth and nail to ensure the census remains a fair and neutral means to count all U.S. residents and not a tool for Donald Trump to push his divisive agenda.”

AAPI Background

• Between 2000 – 2015 the U.S. AAPI population grew 72%
This is the fastest growth rate of any major racial or ethnic group

• AAPIs are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the country, surpassing Hispanics by 2055

• Over the past decade, immigrants from AAPI countries have received more green cards than immigrants from any other region

• Nearly 420,000 AAPIs obtained legal permanent resident status in 2015

• The number of undocumented AAPIs has tripled since 2000

• In 2015: Immigrants from Asian countries received 239,000 family-based visa (vs 90,000 employment-based visas)

• In 2015, family-related visas accounted for the overwhelming majority of people obtaining permanent resident status from Vietnam (96%), Bangladesh (94%), Pakistan (83%), and the Philippines (81%)

• Even among Chinese and Indian immigrants, who have a generally received a significant number of employment-based visas, more than half of the green cards issued in 2015 to these groups were issued on the basis of family-related preferences.

Xenophobic agenda

Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, said in a statement that, “The decennial census is meant to ensure that every person is seen, counted, and valued. The addition of a citizenship question to the upcoming census is yet another means for the Trump administration to carry out its anti-immigrant, xenophobic agenda. A failure to comply with the U.S. Constitution and gather an accurate count of all persons living in the United States jeopardizes fair representation and adequate resources to our communities across the country.
“The census is a collective tool that ensures that local school districts know how many children will participate in the public school system, that business owners can make sound data-driven decisions, and that district maps are drawn in ways that ensure fair representation. It’s utterly dishonest that an administration that has been nothing but hostile to voting rights protections—including the creation of a now-disbanded “voter fraud” commission—is using enforcement of the Voting Rights Act as justification for including a citizenship question. The Trump administration continues to remind the American people: Facts don’t matter, and politics are more important than people,” she concluded.

India Post News Service