You can file comments online here, and your voice is needed to make sure everyone is counted.

The Coalition on Human Needs submitted comments today to the Commerce Department voicing our strong opposition to the inclusion of a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census. Such a question, as the Census Bureau’s own research staff has determined, would make the Census less accurate and more costly. The comments also highlight additional concerns about the likely undercount of children, especially children of color, those identifying as Hispanic/Latino, and those in low-income households. Even without the citizenship question, researchers have documented past disproportionate undercounts among these groups, which would be expected to worsen in the 2020 Census without special efforts by the Census Bureau. We believe that the inclusion of a citizenship question will increase the likelihood of a substantial undercount among children. But even if no citizenship question is included, the Census Bureau must take additional steps to reduce the undercount among particularly vulnerable groups that will lead to inequitable distribution of funds and representation.

CHN’s full comments are available here.

This post was originally published on the Coalition on Human Needs' blog, Voices for Human Needs. Receive similar articles in your inbox by subscribing today, and follow CHN on Facebook and Twitter.