Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Monday 25 June 2018

Latino leaders question Census head over citizenship query

By ASTRID GALVAN said the decision to ask data with other govern-
Associated Press about citizenship status will ment agencies.
PHOENIX (AP) — Latino result in an undercount of “People have always had
elected officials from Latino communities. trepidation about respond-
around the nation ques- At the group’s annual ing to a government sur-
tioned the head of the U.S. conference in Phoenix vey,” Jarmin said. “The criti-
Census Bureau on Saturday this week, several said the cal message that we need
over the proposed addition question will deter many to get out to everybody is
of a citizenship question to from responding to the sur- that participation in the
the 2020 survey, denounc- vey for fear that authori- Census is safe, it’s secure.”
ing it as a purely political ties will use the information The U.S. Constitution re-
move. against them. quires a census every 10
Members of the National Acting Director Ron Jarmin years, and its results are
Association of Latino Elect- said the Census Bureau is used to determine the
ed and Appointed Officials barred by law from sharing number of seats each state

Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association
of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, left, speaks with U.S.
Census Bureau Acting Director Ron Jarmin about plans to add a
question about citizenship to the 2020 questionnaire, Saturday,
June 23, 2018, in Phoenix.
Associated Press
has in the House of Repre- But panelists like U.S. Rep.
sentatives, as well as how Jimmy Gomez, D-Califor-
federal money is distrib- nia, said there is a more
uted to local communities sinister reason to add the
and schools. question. Gomez said the
Latino leaders at the con- administration has misled
ference on Saturday said Congress about why it re-
they fear the question of ally wants to do so.
citizenship will be detrimen- “I think this is a real travesty,
tal to an accurate count of I think the American peo-
people living the U.S. ple should be outraged,”
“We know it’s a political Gomez said.
thing, we know it’s gonna The Trump administration’s
affect our communities,” ultimate goal is to take con-
executive director Arturo gressional seats from areas
Vargas said. “Everybody with a high population of
knows this is just bad poli- immigrants, he added.
cy.” Lubby Navarro, a member
The announcement in of the Miami-Dade Coun-
March by U.S. Commerce ty Public Schools Board,
Secretary Wilbur Ross to said adding the citizenship
include the question was question will make it harder
met with criticism and has for community leaders who
resulted in several lawsuits, advocate for participation.
including one in California “The fear that exists right
and another in New York now with the citizenship
brought by 17 Democratic question is going to exac-
attorneys general and oth- erbate our work,” Navarro
ers. Ross said the question said.q
was needed in part to help
the government enforce
the Voting Rights Act, a
1965 law meant to protect
the political representation
of minorities. The decennial
census hasn’t included a
question about citizenship
since 1950.