Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : INTRODUCTION
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics Population Census, every country needs basic information on its residents for purposes of planning, development and improvement of the citizens’ quality of life. Good planning is based on reliable, up-‐to-‐date, accurate and detailed information on the state of the society in the country. This information makes it possible to plan better services, improve the quality of life and solve existing problems. Statistical information, which serves as the basis for shaping policy to ensure a better government, is essential for the democratic process because it enables the citizens to examine the decisions made by its government and local authorities, and to decide whether these decisions serve the public. For these reasons official statistics or census are collected and published in all countries, worldwide. The data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau impacts the design and implementation of policies and laws in governmental sectors including education, housing, transportation, health, and environ-‐mental protection. The census is also used as a tool to measure the effectiveness of past policies within these and other areas. One of the most important roles of our census is population apportionment. Apportionment determines how the 435 members of the House of Representatives will be divided among the states so that each state is represented equally. The census also helps with the equitable allocation of public funds, such as federal and state funding for educational programs, health care, law enforcements, and highways. The equitable distribution of these public funds can only be done properly with up-‐to-‐date population data. It is imperative that we begin to stress NOW the importance of full participation in the upcoming 2020 census rather than wait until 2019 because an accurate census is vital. When census information is not accurate, it threatens the voices of undercounted communities and undermines the political equality that is essential to our democracy (United Philanthropy Forum). Those communities that are more likely to be misrepresented in the census are young children, people of color, and low-‐income individuals (United Philanthropy Forum). The purpose of this digital reader is to focus on the importance of this upcoming census because of proposed changes to the census survey instrument and the process to gather that information including the possibility of a citizenship question on the survey and reliance on electronic distribution of the survey. As citizens and residents of this country, we must do our due diligence to acquire an accurate census in 2020. Please share this eReader Volume 1 with others. Thank you.
2
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Factsheet on the Census, Confidentiality and Japanese American Incarceration
May 1, 2018
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Leadership Conference Education Fund
The U.S. Constitution mandates a count of all persons living in the United States every 10 years. Unfortunately, each decade, some members of the public are reluctant to participate in the census based on fear of government and potential misuse of their responses. Lack of trust in the confidentiality of census data presents a major barrier to census participation, despite the survey’s mandatory nature.
This decade is no different. In fact, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ recent misguided decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, along with recent media coverage of the use of census data to target Japanese Americans for incarceration during WWII, has heightened fear and concern in many communities about participating in the 2020 Census. Fortunately, the current confidentiality protections are the strongest in federal law and should give people confidence that participating in the census is safe.
What legal protections exist to safeguard my privacy and the confidentiality of my responses?
The confidentiality provision of the Census Act (also known as Title 13) – 13 U.S.C. §9 – prohibits any officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or Census Bureau,2 or local government census liaison, from using information collected under the Census Act for any purpose other than producing statistical datasets. The bureau may not publish information that would identify an individual, business, or organization. Only Census Bureau employees or liaisons sworn to observe the strict confidentiality of personal data collected in censuses or surveys may examine individual reports or census/survey forms. More importantly, the bureau and its employees may not share personal census responses with any other government agency or official (federal, state, or local), outside entity (such as a business), or court of law for any reason.3 Individual census forms are immune from legal process and may not be used in a judicial proceeding (except with the consent of the respondent). The oath that Census Bureau employees take not to reveal any personal information is in force for life. Violators are subject to stiff criminal sanctions, including fines up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison (13 U.S.C. §214, as amended).
As an added layer of protection, section 8(c) of Title 13 prohibits federal, state, and local government agencies from using statistical datasets, including special tabulations, produced by the Census Bureau to the “detriment” of any individual who responded to a census or survey from which the dataset is built. In addition, personal information collected in the census cannot be disclosed or published for 72 years; that information includes names, addresses (including GPS coordinates), ethnicity, and telephone numbers. FULL TEXT http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/census/Census-Confidentiality-Factsheet-AAJC-LeadershipConference.pdf
3
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Texas redistricting fight returns to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's what you
need to know. Alexa Ura
April 23, 2018
Texas Tribune The U.S. Supreme Court this week will hear a case over whether Texas' congressional and state House maps were drawn with the intent to discriminate against Hispanic and black voters.
Todd Wiseman
In a case that could reshape political districts across the state, the U.S. Supreme Court this week will consider whether Texas for years has been conducting elections under maps that were drawn with the intent to discriminate against voters of color. The high court on Tuesday, April 24, will consider the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling that found Texas lawmakers diminished the voting strength of Hispanic and black voters when they drew the boundaries for congressional and state House districts. The complex and prolonged case — formally known as Abbott v. Perez — dates back to 2011, involves fights over three sets of political maps and includes findings of intentional discrimination and unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. Read the rest of the article to see a breakdown of the voting rights issues in question and a preview of what to expect for Tuesday's oral arguments. FULL TEXT https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/28/fight-‐over-‐2020-‐census-‐exposes-‐political-‐faults-‐lines-‐between-‐texas-‐le/ The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
4
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : 2020 census test has critics counting concerns, not people
Micelle R. Smith, Associated Press April 7, 2018
abc NEWS
This March 23, 2018 photo shows an envelope containg a 2018 census test letter mailed to a resident
in Providence, R.I. the nation’s ONLY test rung of the 2020 Census
The success of the 2020 census, which will be the first to include an online survey, could hinge on a single "dress rehearsal" underway right now in Rhode Island — and so far, many locals aren't impressed. Providence County, the state's most populous, is the only place where the Census Bureau is running a full test, after plans to test two other sites this year were canceled because of a lack of funding from Congress. A planned question about citizenship that has states suing the federal government isn't on the test. Several elected officials and leaders of advocacy and community groups this week held an "emergency press conference" to raise concerns, which include a shortage of publicity around the test and its limited language outreach in an immigrant-‐heavy county, with large communities from countries including the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Portugal and Cape Verde. "If we don't get it right here, then the country's not going to get it right," Democratic Lt. Gov. Dan McKee warned.
… The 2020 census will be the first to give respondents the option of answering online. Census Bureau officials say that the Rhode Island test is on track, and that they're focused on ensuring new technology works, including a smartphone app being used by canvassers and cloud computing.
…. In the test, which began March 16, 280,000 homes in Providence County are receiving snail-‐mail letters that direct residents to a survey website or toll-‐free phone number. There, they can complete the survey, which includes questions including about age, race and ethnicity. FULL TEXT http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/2020-‐census-‐test-‐critics-‐counting-‐concerns-‐people-‐54306759
5
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Mapping the Threat of a Census Disaster in 2020
Kriston Capps March 30, 2018
CityLab.com
The GOP seems to be betting that damage from a major undercount will be isolated to Democratic-‐leaning cities. But it’s not that simple. At least a dozen states plan to sue the Trump administration over its decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, with the attorneys general of New York and California—populous states with large immigrant populations—leading the charge. But the damage of a potential undercount won’t be confined to the coasts. Before Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the citizenship question on Tuesday, the Democratic co-‐chair of the House Census Caucus had already proposed a bill to block last-‐minute census interference. Democrats in the Senate introduced mirror legislation to ensure that any changes to the census were properly tested before a survey. Another House Democrat from New York floated the possibility of withholding appropriations for the census. While it’s Democrats who are erupting now, tracking populations that are hard for the census to reach reveals that the damage from an undercount could disrupt conservative-‐leaning states, too. Counties in Texas and Oklahoma, for example, contain some of the hardest-‐to-‐reach populations in the country, according to a mapping tool developed by the Center for Urban Research at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in collaboration with the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. A major census undercount could jeopardize new congressional seat pick-‐ups anticipated by Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, and other states that have traditionally trended GOP. FULL TEXT https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/03/mapping-‐the-‐threat-‐of-‐a-‐census-‐disaster/556814/
6
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : In Texas, census citizenship question becomes a political fault line of its own
Alexa Ura March 28, 2018
Texas Tribune
At a press conference at the Texas Capitol, state Rep. César Blanco, D-‐El Paso, addresses the decision taken by the Trump Administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
Marjorie Kamys Cotera Funding for schools, roads and housing. Political clout in Congress. The state’s ability to prepare for natural disasters. That’s what experts and activists warn is at risk now that the Trump administration has announced that it will add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census questionnaire — a move that opponents say will likely depress response rates among Texas immigrants and their families and lead to an undercount in the once-‐in-‐a-‐decade count of every person living in the United States. That warning was issued by state lawmakers, lawyers and immigrants that gathered at the Texas Capitol on Wednesday to urge state and federal leaders to push back on the inclusion of the citizenship question. Action is needed, they said, to avoid jeopardizing the state’s projected gain of three congressional seats and billions in federal funding for local communities. "Getting a full and accurate count shouldn’t be a Democratic issue and it shouldn’t be a Republican issue," said state Rep. César Blanco, an El Paso Democrat who chairs the Texas House Border Caucus. "This is a Texas issue." state's Republican leadership has stayed silent or cheered the decision, even as local leaders who represent Democratic-‐leaning communities sound the alarm. FULL TEXT https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/28/fight-over-2020-census-exposes-political-faults-lines-between-texas-le/ The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them
– about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
7
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Here’s Why an Accurate Census Count Is So Important
Jim Tankersley and Emily Baumgaertner March 27, 2018
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The United States census is so much more than just a head count. It is a snapshot of America that determines how congressional seats are apportioned, how state and federal dollars are distributed, where businesses choose to ship products and where they build new stores. To do all that properly, the count needs to be accurate. The Commerce Department’s decision to restore a citizenship question to the census beginning in 2020 is prompting concerns about curtailing participation and possibly undercounting people living in the United States, particularly immigrants and minority groups who are expressing discomfort with answering questions from census workers. Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, acknowledged concerns about decreased response rates in a memorandum released on Monday night. But he said asking about citizenship would enhance the results by helping calculate the percentage of the population eligible to vote. An undercount of the population would have far-‐reaching implications. It could skew the data that are used to determine how many congressional representatives each state gets and their representation in state legislatures and local government bodies. It would shape how billions of dollars a year are allocated, including for schools and hospitals. It would undermine the integrity of a wide variety of economic data and other statistics that businesses, researchers and policymakers depend on to make decisions, including the numbers that underpin the forecasts for Social Security beneficiaries. Here are several of the commercial, political and research efforts that depend on accurate census data:
• Divvying up seats in Congress, legislatures • Handing out federal and state dollars * Influencing business decisions • Planning for health, wellness programs • Gaming out Social Security
FULL TEXT https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/politics/census-‐citizenship-‐question.html
8
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Ahead of 2020 census, Texans are becoming even harder to count
Alexa Ura and Chris Essig March 26, 2018
Texas Tribune
A conference room in a Houston municipal building will soon take the form of a political war room. Maps outlining city blocks and tracts will adorn the walls. Operatives will gather to strategize on block-‐walking in different communities. And outreach plans will be solidified in hopes of shaking hands and meeting with as many constituents as possible. The extensive ground game that will be formulated in that war room, and similar ones across the state, won’t be in support of any candidate or political campaign. Instead, it will be to promote the once-‐in-‐a-‐decade census — a crucial count of every person living in the United States. “It doesn’t matter if your parents came over on the Mayflower or five years ago or less,” said Margaret Wallace Brown, Houston’s census manager for the 2010 count. “What matters to us is who lives here and who needs our services, and how can we best provide those services to our community.” But even two years out from the 2020 count, local officials, demographers, community organizers and advocates say they are worried the census could be particularly tough to carry out in Texas this go-‐around.
FULL TEXT https://apps.texastribune.org/texas-census-2020-hard-to-count/ The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
9
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis :
Analysis: Adding a citizenship question to the census could screw over Texas Ross Ramsey
March 27, 2018
Texas Tribune
Counting is one thing. Culling is something else entirely.
As the federal government prepares for its once-‐every-‐decade count of the U.S. population, it has decided to ask residents whether they are U.S. citizens or not. At a time when immigration and sanctuary cities top Republican lists of political concerns, that question has less to do with counting and more to do with culling.
Including that question could be a strong disincentive for some respondents to even talk to a census worker, if they feel that answering in the negative — “Not a U.S. citizen” — might expose them to legal consequences. Being counted is one thing. Volunteering for immigration scrutiny is another
…. Hispanics and poor people are already harder to count — whether there’s a citizenship question in place or not. Census tracts with lower-‐than-‐average response rates tend to have higher Hispanic and/or poor populations. Opponents to including a question on citizenship contend it will further increase chances of an undercount — particularly in areas with higher numbers of poor and Hispanic Texas residents.
The federal government could save itself billions of dollars in population-‐related programs and services by undercounting the state’s population, and critics of the decision to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census say a Texas undercount will be one of the results. Whether that’s a conflict of interest or a clever economic strategy is up to each voter.
An undercount could cost the fast-‐growing state some representation in Congress. It would also short-‐sheet Texas in funding for various federal programs, from transportation to health care, that are ladled out according to population. FULL TEXT https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/27/analysis-adding-citizenship-question-census-could-screw-over-texas/ The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
10
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis :
The 2020 Census received much more funding in the House spending bill than advocates had anticipated
Tara Bahrampour March 22, 2018
Washington Post
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose department overseas the U.S. Census (Saul Loeb/AFT/Getty Images
Census advocates got an unexpected surprise Wednesday night when the House’s $1.3 trillion spending bill for fiscal year 2018 included more funding for the Census Bureau than they had expected or even dreamed of asking for. The bill, which the House passed on Thursday, allocates $2.814 billion for the Census Bureau, nearly double the 2017 funding level of $1.47 billion, and $1.13 billion more than the administration’s adjusted request for 2018. FULL TEXT https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-‐issues/the-‐2020-‐census-‐received-‐much-‐more-‐funding-‐in-‐the-‐fiscal-‐2018-‐budget-‐than-‐advocates-‐had-‐anticipated/2018/03/22/8e9597ce-‐2df9-‐11e8-‐8688-‐e053ba58f1e4_story.html?utm_term=.a9abe0d4da0a
11
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : U.S. Census Bureau Will Continue to Count Incarcerated Individuals
as Residents of Prisons, Contributing to the Diminished Voting Power of Communities of Color
NAACP February 9, 2018
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
U.S. Census Bureau Will Continue to Count Incarcerated Individuals as Residents of Prisons, Contributing to the Diminished Voting Power of Communities of Color
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is extremely disappointed with the Census Bureau’s recent decision to continue to count upwards of 2 million incarcerated people, including a disproportionate number of Black and Latino individuals, in the wrong location on Census Day. As recently as 2016, LDF—along with redistricting experts, legislators, and formerly incarcerated people themselves—urged the Bureau to count in 2020 incarcerated persons as residents of their home communities. That approach would recognize that it is their home communities where incarcerated persons have familial and other ties and are likely to return over the course of the decade, rather than the prison facilities where they are involuntarily confined. This decision to maintain an inaccurate and outdated Census count will contribute to another decade of problematic and potentially discriminatory redistricting through the practice of prison-based gerrymandering. Prisons are often located in rural, white areas of our country: counting prisoners as “residents” of those areas inflates the allocation of legislative seats in those places while minimizing representation for incarcerated persons’ home communities. “This Census method is misguided and disproportionately impacts urban communities of color due to the racial discrimination which infects our criminal justice system,” said Leah Aden, Senior Counsel at LDF. “The reality is that most incarcerated individuals are unable to vote in the areas where their prisons are located and do not have the ability to use the facilities and services in those communities. Thus, incarcerated individuals are not meaningfully represented nor treated as residents where they are imprisoned. This is a Census miscount that can lead to redistricting that has the potential to weaken the voting strength of communities of color and give disproportionate political power to predominately white areas of our country.” FULL TEXT http://www.naacpldf.org/press-‐release/us-‐census-‐bureau-‐will-‐continue-‐count-‐incarcerated-‐individuals-‐residents-‐prisons-‐contri
12
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Trump’s Pick to Run 2020 Census Has Defended Racial Gerrymandering and
Voter Suppression Laws Ari Berman
January 2, 2018
Mother Jones
In June 2011, the North Carolina Legislature hired Thomas Brunell, a professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas, to produce a report that would help defend the state’s new redistricting maps. The maps, approved by the Republican-‐controlled Legislature, concentrated black voters, who tended to vote Democratic, into as few districts as possible in order to maximize the number of safe Republican districts. Under the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina had to get Justice Department approval for any voting changes, and so it asked Brunell to provide a justification for the maps.
Brunell argued that clustering black voters into a few districts was necessary to maintain their political influence. Though North Carolina was a racially integrated swing state, where black officials represented majority-‐white districts and vice versa, Brunell’s report found “there is clear evidence for the presence of statistically significant racially polarized voting” in North Carolina, necessitating majority-‐black districts. When the maps were challenged in court, state Republicans paid Brunell $300 an hour for research and $500 an hour for testimony as an expert witness.
The strategy worked—for a time. With the new maps in effect, Republicans controlled 10 of the state’s 13 congressional districts after the 2014 election and had a supermajority in the Legislature.
FULL TEXT https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/trumps-pick-to-run-2020-census-has-defended-racial-gerrymandering-and-voter-suppression-laws/ Copyright ©2018 Mother Jones and the Foundation for National Progress. All Rights Reserved.
13
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : With 2020 Census Looming, Worries About Fairness and Accuracy
Michael Wines December 9. 2017
New York Times
Census experts and public officials are expressing growing concerns that the bedrock mission of the 2020 census — an accurate and trustworthy head count of everyone in the United States — is imperiled, with worrisome implications. Preparations for the count already are complicated by a sea change in the census itself: For the first time, it will be conducted largely online instead of by mail. But as the Census Bureau ramps up its spending and work force for the 2020 count, it is saddled with problems. Its two top administrative posts are filled by placeholders. Years of underfunding by Congress and cost overruns on the digital transition have forced the agency to pare back its preparations, including abandoning two of the three trial runs of the overhauled census process. Civil liberties advocates also fear that the Trump administration is injecting political considerations into the bureau, a rigidly nonpartisan agency whose population count will be the basis for redrawing congressional and state legislative districts in the early 2020s. And there is broad agreement that the administration’s aggressive enforcement of immigration policies will make it even harder to reach minorities, undocumented immigrants and others whose numbers have long been undercounted. Taken together, some experts say, those issues substantially raise the risk that the 2020 count could be flawed, disputed, or both. FULL TEXT https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/us/census-‐2020-‐redistricting.html
14
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis : Texas Hispanics behind half of state's growth since 2010
Alexa Ura June 22, 2017
Photo by Justyna Furmanczyk
The state’s population is still booming, and Hispanic Texans are driving a large portion of that growth.
New population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that just over half of Texas’ population increase since 2010 can be attributed to a rapidly growing Hispanic community and its expanding presence in nearly every corner of the state.
As of July 2016, the Texas population nearly reached 27.9 million — up from 25.1 million in 2010. More than 1.4 million of that 2.7 million increase was among Hispanic Texans. Meanwhile, the white population only increased by about 444,000 people.
Put another way: Since 2010, Texas has gained more than three times as many Hispanic residents than whites.
White population growth lagged others since 2010 While white Texans remain the largest demographic group in Texas, their growth rate since 2010 was easily outpaced by other major demographic groups.
Race 2010 population estimate 2016 population estimate Change
Asian 960,549 1,301,143 35.5%
Black 2,900,003 3,298,870 13.8
Hispanic 9,460,960 10,881,124 15
White 11,429,004 11,872,926 3.9 Note: "White" includes individuals only categorized by the U.S. Census as non-Hispanic. "Hispanic" includes individuals of any race. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Credit: Ryan Murphy
FULL TEXT https://www.texastribune.org/2017/06/22/texas-hispanics-behind-half-states-growth-2010/
15
Texas Counts
THE COUNT STARTS NOW: Taking Action to Avoid Census 2020 Crisis :
Where prisoners 'live' is a question of power Asher Price
November 8, 2004
Austin American Statesman Counting prisoners as residents of rural counties robs cities of clout, money and services, some say It seemed like a simple enough question. As state Rep. Harold Dutton, D-‐Houston, searched during the last redistricting for ways to ensure that Harris County would maintain its 26-‐person delegation in the Texas Legislature, he thought of a creative solution. "How do we count our prisoners?" he asked his staff. By including prisoners from Harris who are incarcerated elsewhere in the state as part of the county's population, it could maintain its level of representation. But Dutton's basic question raises larger ones about the allocation of power within Texas and the distribution of federal and other funds. And it evokes more profoundly the issues involved with the locking up and disenfranchisement of large minority populations that date to the counting of slaves. Prisoners, as it turns out, are counted by census takers as living in the community where they are incarcerated, rather than in the neighborhood they call home. Where prisoners are counted -‐-‐ in penitentiaries usually in rural areas far from home -‐-‐ effectively ships out clout, taking federal and state dollars, and social services, from urban areas to rural ones. The fact that those prisoners almost invariably return to their urban roots compounds the inequity, according to critics. FULL TEXT https://www.prisonpolicy.org/news/statesman11082004.html
