Policymakers use census data to identify community needs and to distribute federal program dollars to states and localities based on population numbers or other community characteristics that the census and related American Community Survey measure.
Both Republican and Democratic administrations, as well as Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, 1 have confirmed unequivocally that the Constitution requires a count of all persons living in the United States, regardless of citizenship or legal status, for the purpose of apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Nonetheless, lawmakers over the years have sought to add questions on citizenship and legal status to the decennial census.