WASHINGTON – In a Q&A published by The New York Times Editorial Board, Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, discusses why weaponizing the 2020 Census with a citizenship question is bad for the census, our communities, and our nation.
“[T]he mandate of the decennial census is one thing alone: to count every single person in this country. It isn’t to be used as a fishing expedition to get random information on people. Also, we know that in this administration, a citizenship question is not benign,” Gupta told the editorial board. She went on to note, “The bottom line is, this census is happening, and that’s why we’re fighting so hard to undo this question.”
The census is required by the Constitution and its accuracy is critically important for all people in the United States. A fair and accurate census – and the collection of useful, objective data about our nation’s people, housing, economy, and communities generally – is among the most important civil rights issues of our day.
The full editorial Q&A can be found here.
