Congress Must Protect Communities’ Rights Before Extending Census Deadlines

Census and Data Equity News 05.6,20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tamika Turner, [email protected], 419.913.8088

Congress Must Protect Communities’ Rights Before Extending Census Deadlines

WASHINGTON –  As the U.S. Census Bureau shifts its plans for the 2020 Census to keep communities safe in the wake of coronavirus, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC are calling on Congress to fully explore and address how the Census Bureau’s request that lawmakers modify the statutory reporting deadlines for 2020 Census data would affect historically undercounted communities and states’ ability to comply with the Voting Rights Act.  

In a letter sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, The Leadership Conference and its Census Task Force Co-chairs — NALEO Educational Fund and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC — urged Congress to take several oversight actions, including:

  • Evaluating whether delays in door-to-door enumeration will disadvantage historically undercounted communities or threaten data quality

  • Assessing whether states and localities will be able to carry out the redistricting process fairly and without violating existing statutes, constitutional provisions, or the Voting Rights Act

  • Reducing the financial and operational burdens on the Census Bureau as it works to navigate this public health crisis by prohibiting the administration’s time-consuming directive for the bureau to produce a new block-level file on the citizenship status of the population by voting age

“Extending census operations is a necessary step to keep people safe. But without a firm plan for when and how the Census Bureau will safely count historically undercounted communities, the fairness and accuracy of the 2020 Census is at risk,” said Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “We need a clearer view of how allowing the Census Bureau to report 2020 Census data later than authorized will affect states’ ability to fairly distribute political representation and power. Congress must ensure the Census Bureau’s plan to protect our communities’ health also protects our communities’ rights. We can, and must, do both.”

“The Census Bureau must be diligent about its changing operations and timeline in the midst of this pandemic crisis. COVID-19 is hitting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities hard. Although we recognize that this is an unprecedented challenge, the bureau must do everything in its power to ensure that our hard-to-count communities are not getting left out or left behind,” said Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC President and Executive Director, John C. Yang. “Too much is at stake for our communities and we need concrete information on how these ever-changing operations will impact the full collection of 2020 Census data and the impact on apportionment and redistricting data that every state will need to ensure equal and fair government representation for all.”

“While we acknowledge that an updated and evolving timeline is necessary to address the COVID-19 public health crisis, we must also stress the critical nature of the census and the impact proposing operational and statutory changes may have on ensuring a fair and accurate count of Latinos and immigrants,” said Arturo Vargas, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund chief executive officer. “We remain deeply concerned about the feasibility of field operations reaching hard-to-count communities across the country in light of recent changes and call for the bureau to provide full transparency and accountability when briefing stakeholders on ongoing census operational shifts. COVID-19 has presented immense and exceptional challenges that will require malleability and commitment from leadership in Congress, the Census Bureau, and the administration if a fair and accurate count in the 2020 Census is to be achieved.”

The letter can be read in its entirety here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.