The U.S. Census Bureau has confirmed that it’s shutting down nationwide data collection—including critical door-knocking efforts—a month early, claiming in a statement that the “new plan reflects our continued commitment to conduct a complete count, provide accurate apportionment data, and protect the health and safety of the public and our workforce.”
That would be easier to believe if the Trump administration hadn’t already engaged in such blatant sabotaging of the census, including an unconstitutional move to outright erase undocumented immigrants from the count. “The worry among Democrats is that that’s exactly the point and it will be historically underrepresented groups that will fall through the cracks, skewing America’s picture of itself, as well as a decade of political representation and federal funding that is derived from the constitutionally mandated count,” Slate reported.
NPR broke the report last week that the U.S. Census Bureau was moving to end critical door-counting efforts a month early, from Oct. 31 to Sept. 30. The deadline had originally been extended from July to October due to delays related to the novel coronavirus pandemic, but “[s]enior census officials had already warned completing the count even in that time frame was no longer possible,” Slate said. Also scheduled to end early is the critical self-response option, according to the bureau’s statement.
Three U.S. Census Bureau workers who were informed of the plan immediately went to NPR with the news, keeping their names private due to concerns about retribution. "It's going to be impossible to complete the count in time," one of the employees told NPR. "I'm very fearful we're going to have a massive undercount." But that’s clearly the goal.
“The condensed door-knocking time frame increases the risk of leaving out many people of color, immigrants and other members of historically undercounted groups,” NPR reported. This was also noted in a recent letter from House Oversight chair Carolyn Maloney to U.S. Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham, where she called the rushed date the latest in “efforts to rush and politicize the 2020 Census.”
“[Y]ou issued a statement that the Census Bureau will be ending Non-ResponseFollow-Up (NRFU) and online responses on September 30, 2020—a full month earlier than previously announced,” she wrote. “You did not mention this change during your testimony last week before the Committee. This move will rush the enumeration process, result in inadequate follow-up, and undercount immigrant communities and communities of color who are historically undercounted.”
It’s going to take urgent and bold action to stop the impeached president from using the full force of the federal government to keep the grasp of white supremacy in place beyond his term even if he loses. “The Trump administration is sabotaging the 2020 Census,” the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said, “plain and simple. Let’s be clear: the Trump administration is doing everything it can to decrease representation and reduce resources for Latinos and immigrants over the next decade.”
“’This is a whole systemic attack on the census for political gain,’ Julie Menin, the census director for New York City, said in an interview,” The New York Times reported. She continued: “There’s an intentional attempt here to basically steal the census—to politicize this census to gain Republican seats across the country.”
UPDATE:
NPR’s Hansi Lo Wang reports that four former U.S. Census Bureau directors have now called on Congress to extend deadlines:
