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A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 15 OcTOber 2019
Census Bureau seeks state data, including citizenship info

By MIKE SCHNEIDER ongoing programs where
The U.S. Census Bureau is they reach out to states for
asking states for drivers' various data."
license records that typi- States typically don't do a
cally include citizenship good job of tracking citi-
data and has made a new zenship information, said
request for information on Kenneth Prewitt, a former
recipients of government Census Bureau director in
assistance, alarming some the Clinton administration.
civil rights advocates. "People move, divorce,
The two approaches, doc- buy homes, pay state tax-
umented by The Associat- es, and these behaviors are
ed Press, come amid Presi- not tied to any citizenship
dent Donald Trump's efforts records," Prewitt said.
to make citizenship a key In a statement last Thurs-
aspect of federal informa- day, the Census Bureau
tion-gathering in the run-up said it started requesting
to the 2020 Census, despite state administrative re-
this year's U.S. Supreme cords in 2016 to help with
Court ruling that a specific the 2020 Census and ongo-
citizenship question can't ing surveys. The records in-
be included in the 2020 clude birthdates, address-
Census questionnaire. es, race, Hispanic origin
Civil rights advocates worry and citizenship status. The
that the wider net being bureau didn't answer why
cast by the Trump admin- it was requesting drivers' li-
istration for such informa- cense information or why it
tion could chill Latino par- had made the new request
ticipation in the population last month for state ad-
count, which will determine ministrative records when
how many congressional it already receives records
seats each state gets and from states.
guide the allocation of The bureau said the records
hundreds of billions of dol- it receives are stripped of
lars of federal funding. The identifiable information
results of the 2020 Census and used for statistical pur-
also will be used to redraw A woman enters a Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles drivers license service center, Tues- poses only.
state and local electoral day, Oct. 8, 2019, in Hialeah, Fla. "Responses to all Census
maps. Associated Press Bureau surveys and admin-
Experts caution that inac- istrative records obtained
curacies in state motor email. vance, but they don't have "The timing of it, and notic- by the Census Bureau are
vehicle records also make In Illinois, Secretary of State enough time right now to ing in the executive order, safe, secure and protected
them a poor choice for Jesse White denied the re- actually plan and provide it's well-stated that this is by law," its statement said.
tracking citizenship, if that is quest. clear information to the going to be a push direct- When it comes to the citi-
the bureau's goal. "We, as a general rule, are public about how they are ing the Census Bureau to zenship question, there has
After the Supreme Court not comfortable with giv- going to use these admin- work on gathering these been a tension between
ruling, President Donald ing out our data, certainly istrative records," Senteno state inputs; it would lead Trump appointees push-
Trump signed an executive not in such a huge amount. said. "They're flying by the me to believe that the two ing the president's agenda
order in July requiring the That was the overriding seat of their pants right are probably connected," and career Census Bureau
Commerce Department, concern," said spokesman now." said Susan Strate, senior workers who worried that
which oversees the Census Dave Drucker. The bureau also is seeking manager of Population adding a citizenship ques-
Bureau, to collect records Other states are weighing more state records on indi- Estimates Program at the tion would reduce partici-
on citizenship from federal what to do. The Florida De- vidual recipients of public University of Massachusetts pation and make for a less
agencies and increase ef- partment of Highway Safe- programs. A new request Donahue Institute. accurate 2020 headcount.
forts "to obtain State ad- ty and Motor Vehicles has published last month in the States already share re- Bureau officials have said
ministrative records con- received the request but Federal Register said the re- cords on food assistance they will decide by March
cerning citizenship." hasn't responded, spokes- cords would be used for the and other programs to help 31 on a methodology for
The American Association woman Beth Frady said. 2020 Census and other re- the bureau track tradition- tracking citizenship. The
of Motor Vehicle Admin- Motor vehicle agency re- search, and they're need- ally undercounted popula- 2020 Census count official-
istrators told The AP that cords are notoriously inac- ed to "improve efficiency tions and pinpoint vacant ly begins the next day, on
most, if not all, states re- curate and "bad at deter- and accuracy in our data houses. The states' adminis- April 1. Several civil rights
cently received requests mining when someone is collections, and to improve trative records could cover organizations filed a new
for information including not a citizen," said Andrea measures of the population a host of topics, includ- challenge in federal court
citizenship status, race, Senteno, a lawyer for the and economy." ing citizenship, said John in Maryland last month,
birthdates and addresses. Mexican American Legal The records request doesn't Thompson, a former Cen- claiming Trump's execu-
The association has ad- Defense and Educational explicitly ask for citizenship sus Bureau director in the tive order is "motivated by
vised members to consult Fund, which is challenging information, but some de- Obama administration. a racially discriminatory
their privacy officers, and Trump's executive order. mographers who work with "Here's the confusing thing scheme to reduce Latino
"each state is making their "The Census Bureau usually the bureau on state-level about it," Thompson said: political representation"
own determination how to plans for these types of big data suspect it's responsive "They've already been and gives an advantage to
respond," spokeswoman changes in their operations to the president's executive reaching out to states. white voters at the expense
Claire Jeffrey said in an many, many years in ad- order. They've got a number of of Latino voters.q