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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 9 May 2023
Simulation suggests 2020 census missed many noncitizens

By MIKE SCHNEIDER which likely deterred immi-
Associated Press grants, Hispanics and oth-
New results from a U.S. Cen- ers from participating in the
sus Bureau simulation indi- 2020 census.
cate a significant number In 2019, the Trump adminis-
of noncitizens were missed tration attempted to add a
in the 2020 census, a na- citizenship question to the
tional head count during 2020 census questionnaire,
which the Trump admin- but the U.S. Supreme Court
istration tried to prevent blocked it. In the middle of
people in the United States the 2020 census, President
illegally from being tallied Donald Trump directed the
at all. Census Bureau to exclude
Some civil rights groups people in the country ille-
pointed to the bureau’s gally from numbers used
latest findings as evidence for divvying up congressio-
that, despite the Trump ad- nal seats among the states.
ministration’s failure to ex- An influential GOP adviser
clude residents in the coun- had advocated excluding
try illegally from the 2020 them from the apportion-
count altogether, the for- ment process in order to fa-
mer president’s push con- vor Republicans and non-
tributed to an undercount Hispanic whites. Trump’s
for some racial and ethnic memo was rescinded when
minorities. A briefcase of a census taker is seen as she knocks on the door of a residence, Aug. 11, 2020, in President Joe Biden arrived
A simulated head count by Winter Park, Fla. at the White House in Janu-
the statistical agency uti- Associated Press ary 2021, before the census
lized 31 types of administra- in federal funding in the U.S. fare programs, motor vehi- renters and young children. figures were released.
tive records from govern- Almost a fifth of noncitizens cle registrations and other Its results actually bumped The Black population in the
ment agencies and third- found in the administrative data, the test tallied 2.3% up the numbers for Hispan- 2020 census had a net un-
party sources to produce records had addresses that more people than in the ic and Black residents, two dercount of 3.3%. The un-
estimates of the U.S. popu- couldn’t be matched in actual census in 2020 that groups who were under- dercount was almost 5% for
lation on April 1, 2020 that the 2020 census, suggest- produced a head count counted in the 2020 cen- Hispanics, 5.6% for Ameri-
could be compared to the ing that “a significant frac- of 331 million U.S. residents, sus, respectively, by 8.3 mil- can Indians and Native
survey-like responses used tion of noncitizens” were primarily because the simu- lion people and 2.8 million Alaskans living on reserva-
in the last official tally of ev- missed, according to the lation captured more non- people, the report said. tions and 0.84% for children
ery U.S. resident. The simu- U.S. Census Bureau report citizens residing in the U.S., The administrative records under age 18.
lation was an experiment released Friday. By com- the report said. census produced estimates Those undercounts were
which doesn’t change the parison, that same figure The simulation was a test of 11.6 million people in the higher than in the 2010
results of the once-a-de- was 5.4% for citizens. to see how good a job U.S. with an unknown legal census, though only the
cade count of every U.S. Using administrative re- administrative records per- status. Opponents have Hispanic count and tally
resident that helps deter- cords from government form in counting historically said Trump administration of children had statistically
mine political power and agencies that have re- undercounted groups like policies in 2019 and 2020 significant differences from
the distribution of $1.5 trillion cords on immigration, wel- racial and ethnic minorities, created a chilling effect 2010 to 2020. q

Stalled gun bill advances in Texas after new mass shootings

By ACACIA CORONADO ways of the Capitol build- whose children were killed last year cried following the thing of an about-face for
and JIM VERTUNO ing in the country’s largest in the attack at Robb El- vote. Republicans.
Associated Press red state. Some families ementary School in Uvalde The measure is unlikely to Republican state Rep. Ryan
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Fac- become law, as Repub- Guillen, who chairs the
ing renewed calls for strict- lican Gov. Greg Abbott House Select Committee
er gun control after a mass has previously waved off on Community Safety, said
shooting near Dallas, a Re- the idea of allowing only Monday that he still be-
publican-led Texas House people 21 or older to pur- lieves there is not enough
committee advanced a bill chase guns like those used support in the Legislature
Monday that would raise in many of the country’s for the bill to ultimately
the purchase age for semi- worst mass shootings, in- pass. He voted against the
automatic rifles from 18 to cluding Texas’. But the bill measure leaving his com-
21 even though the propos- even getting and clearing mittee, which passed the
al has little or no chance of a committee vote was un- bill on what was effectively
actually becoming law. usual. the last possible day to so
The Select Committee on The bill had languished for with time running out be-
Community Safety voted weeks prior to the week- fore the legislative session
8-5, with two Republicans end shooting that left eight ends later this month.
joining six Democrats, to people dead at Allen Pre- When asked why the bill
advance the bill to the mium Outlets, a sprawling was suddenly coming up
full House after protesters’ Protesters gather at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, outdoor shopping center, for a vote after weeks of in-
chants of “Do Something!” Monday, May 8, 2023, to call for tighter regulations on gun sales. and it getting a committee action, Guillen said nothing
echoed through the hall- Associated Press vote amounted to some- had changed.q