(ELIZABETH) – Assembly Judiciary Chairwoman and Deputy Majority Leader Annette Quijano (D-Union) offered the following statement in response to the US Commerce Department’s announcement declaring that the 2020 census will include a question on citizenship status:
“This is a clear attempt by the Trump Administration to intimidate immigrants and minorities in our country, and to diminish the population count that is used for establishing voting districts and distributing federal funds.”
“With the disdain and vitriol that the Administration has consistently expressed towards our immigrant communities, it is evident that the Commerce Department is carrying out President Trump’s agenda to suppress minority participation in the decennial census for malicious reasons. This will have austere political, social and economic consequences for everybody.”
“The census is the basis upon which the federal government determines how we draw our electoral boundaries and distribute essential funding — and it should not be used as a political tool. By including this question, this Administration is politicizing the census and hurting urban communities for the next decade.”