It’s not just Democratic-leaning states at risk of losing federal money and clout in Congress if the Supreme Court says the upcoming census can include a citizenship question.
PHOENIX — It’s not just Democratic-leaning states at risk of losing federal money and clout in Congress if the Supreme Court says the upcoming census can include a citizenship question.
Fast-growing Arizona, Florida and Texas all have large groups of immigrants, especially Hispanics, who might choose to sit out the census, but are led by Republicans who seem unconcerned about the potential for an undercount and the resulting loss of representation in Congress.
The divide between blue and red states with large immigrant populations is stark as both prepare for a census that could ask about citizenship for the first time in 70 years.
Republican lawmakers in several states with large immigrant populations praised the Trump administration for fighting to include the question and wondered whether immigrants should even be included in the count.
Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters, who also is chairman of the state Republican Party, said he wasn’t worried about the potential consequences of an undercount.
«I don’t care,» he said. «It’s the right decision, and I fully support the president and what he’s trying to do.»
He expects Florida will still pick up at least one seat because of rapid growth.
The U. S. Supreme Court will decide soon whether to uphold the Trump administration’s plan to ask about citizenship on census forms. There appeared to be a clear divide between the court’s liberal and conservative justices in arguments in the case this past week, with conservatives holding a 5-4 majority.
Federal law requires people to complete the census accurately and fully. But Ceridwen Cherry, a lawyer on the American Civil Liberties Union’s voting rights project, said including a citizenship question could contaminate the form for many people and result in an undercount.
«If a citizenship question is added, immigrants and those who live in households that contain noncitizens are going to be more likely to not respond to the census at all,» she said, «or respond and leave off noncitizens from the form.»
The concern among certain immigrant groups — particularly Hispanics and Muslims — is driven by the Trump administration’s oftentimes harsh rhetoric about immigration and fears that it will share the census data with immigration authorities. When an advisory committee asked the U. S. Census Bureau about that worry last year, officials responded by saying that breaking census confidentiality is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
Opponents of the citizenship question point to a study by George Washington University political scientist Chris Warshaw, who found that two or three states are likely to end up with fewer congressional seats than they otherwise would have because of a citizenship question.
