Think Progress

by Faiz Shakir, Amanda Terkel, Matt Corley, Benjamin Armbruster, Andrea Nill, and Zaid Jilani

Stand Up And Be Counted

Yesterday, Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) introduced a bill to ensure that all U.S. residents are counted by the Census Bureau. It may seem odd that Baca is proposing legislation that reiterates a principle found in the U.S. Constitution. However, his bill is meant to counter an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill proposed by Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) which seeks to cut off financing for the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 survey unless it adds a question about citizenship. The Senators claim that unless non-citizens are singled out and excluded from congressional apportionment, states like California with many undocumented immigrants will be able to steal representatives from states with fewer undocumented immigrants such as Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. On the other end of the political spectrum, a well-known Latino evangelical preacher, radio host, and chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, Rev. Miguel Rivera, is defiantly urging undocumented immigrants to boycott the census in protest of the lack of immigration reform. The census survey isn't just about congressional apportionment -- it's about allocating federal resources and informing sound policy decisions that affect all U.S. residents. That's why the Spanish-language media, unions, and grassroots groups have kicked off a nationwide campaign called "¡Hagase Contar!" or "Make Yourself Count," urging people to fill out their census forms.  

EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION: The 14th Amendment requires that representatives be apportioned according to an indiscriminate population count of "the whole number of persons in each State." As a result, non citizens, children, ex-felons, legal residents, and several other non-voters are included in Census apportionment data in order to paint an accurate portrait of a state's demographic makeup and population density that's key to effective and adequate representation. Census data is also used to distribute federal funding and Community Development Block Grants that benefit all residents. As a result, non citizens, children, ex-felons, legal residents, and several other non-voters are included in Census apportionment data in order to paint an accurate portrait of a state's demographic makeup and population density that's key to effective and adequate representation. The Drum Major Institute (DMI) recently released a report showing that not counting undocumented immigrants would lead to inaccurate demographic information and result in costly mistakes in infrastructure, education, and health care planning. Such missteps could cost local communities millions of dollars and lead to unsafe and inefficient roads and overcrowded schools and hospitals. A Pricewaterhouse Coopers study of the last Census survey projected a loss of $4 billion from 2002 to 2012 for the District of Columbia and 31 affected states due to an undercount of the total population. Businesses also rely on accurate social, economic and demographic census information so they can make smart investment decisions. DMI goes as far to say that not counting undocumented immigrants could actually slow the recovery from the economic recession and lead to bad public policies.

OFFENDING THE CONSTITUTION: Vitter and Bennett insist that their measure is necessary in order to preserve the original intent of the Founding Fathers who meant for only citizens to be counted by Census officials for the purposes of congressional apportionment. However, NDN President and founder Simon Rosenberg describes the amendment as "remarkably, and offensively unconstitutional." Salon's Gabriel Winant explains that "the 18th century has something to say to the 21st." The 14th Amendment was adopted after the Civil War to overturn the Three-Fifths Compromise -- which stipulated that slaves be counted as three-fifths of a person -- and instead guaranteed that all persons in the U.S. are counted equally. It also seems unlikely that the Founding Fathers overlooked a "loophole" or were blind to the fact that millions of immigrants from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and various regions of what would become Germany were rapidly emigrating to the U.S. during the nation's first era of mass immigration Ultimately, there isn't any language in the amendment stipulating a change in the way representatives are apportioned, however, its implications are clear. A citizenship question in itself will likely dissuade many noncitizens from participating. In the end, Vitter and Bennett are shooting themselves in the foot by supposedly arguing on behalf of many of the states that have grown and benefited from a recent influx of undocumented immigrants while also threatening the federal funding that those states need to take care of all their residents. Additionally, the Commerce Department says that adding the question would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

BAD MEANS TO A NOBLE END: Rev. Rivera demands "radical action" on behalf of undocumented immigrants in the form of a Census boycott for comprehensive immigration reform. "If we cannot count on the government, why are we going to get counted?," demands the president of Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, Nativo Lopez, who is calling for a Latino boycott. Groups that have come out against the boycott don't disagree with its ends, nor do they "prefer to be clients of the census" as Rivera alleges, rather they are concerned about what widespread Latino nonparticipation could mean for the community in terms of adequate funding and proper representation. "This is adding up to a perfect storm when it comes to the Census on Latinos," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) which is spearheading "¡Hagase Contar!" New America Media reports that a successful boycott could cost the nation $25 billion over the next decade and NALEO president Sylvia Garcia claims the Latino community could lose $800 for every person who doesn't participate. More than that, Latinos would pass up a once-in-a-ten-year opportunity to get the sort of political representation that the long-time absence of immigration reform signals they need and the Constitution says they deserve.
 

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"In the Washington Post/ABC poll, they got 57 percent of the people who said that they agreed with the proposition that we ought to have a new health insurance plan to compete with private insurance. ... [Gallup] said, do you believe in a public, government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurance. That got 50 percent. So, sometimes the wording of the question is important."
-- Fox News' Karl Rove, 10/21/09

VERSUS

"Would you support or oppose having the government create a new health insurance plan to compete with private health insurance plans?"
-- Washington Post/ABC poll, 10/18/09