Trump May Have Revealed The Real Reason For Census Citizenship Question

Trump does have a blabbermouth once he starts yapping.



POLITICS 07/05/2019 03:47 pm ET

Trump May Have Revealed The Real Reason For Census Citizenship Question

The president’s comment that the question is needed for “districting” could undermine his administration’s effort to add it to the 2020 census.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-census-citizenship-question-redisctricting_n_5d1f94eee4b0f3125683a549




President Donald Trump may have just undermined the effort to get a citizenship question added to the 2020 census by identifying his administration’s real motives behind the effort.

Responding to reporters outside the White House on Friday, the president said the question was necessary “for many reasons.”
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“Number one, you need it for Congress — you need it for Congress for districting,” Trump said. “You need it for appropriations — where are the funds going? How many people are there? Are they citizens? Are they not citizens? You need it for many reasons.”

But the reasons Trump named don’t exactly line up with his administration’s official talking points.

Since Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, moved to add the citizenship question to the 2020 census in 2018, the Trump administration has claimed the query is necessary to better enforce the Voting Rights Act.

Those challenging the question said there’s a partisan motive behind the effort. Congressional districts are apportioned based on total population, regardless of citizenship. But with a citizenship question added to the census, experts and activists say it could discourage people of color from participating and privilege conservative and rural areas with smaller noncitizen populations.

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Trump’s comment on Friday that the question is needed for “districting” appears to give weight to that argument. ...................................................