RELEASE: Census: Secretary Ross “Thumbed His Nose at the Constitution”
Washington, DC – On news last night that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross decided to insert a mandatory citizenship question into the 2020 Census, Constitutional Accountability Center President Elizabeth Wydra issued the following reaction:
“Secretary Ross thumbed his nose at the Constitution last night, choosing to flout its clear textual command to count all of the nation’s people in the decennial Census. It is now up to Congress and the courts to fix this egregious, totally avoidable constitutional error and ensure that the 2020 Census lives up to the principles of democracy that the American people expect and the Constitution requires.”
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Resources:
Letter from Constitution, Civil Rights and Democracy Organizations to Secretary Ross: Reject Mandatory Citizenship Question on 2020 Census, March 22, 2018: https://www.theusconstitution.org/news/release-constitution-civil-rights-democracy-organizations-secretary-ross-reject-mandatory-citizenship-question-2020-census/
The Cornerstone of our Democracy: The Census Clause and the Constitutional Obligation to Count All Persons, David Gans, CAC Issue Brief, March 19, 2018:
“Count all the people, just as the Constitution says,” David Gans, San Antonio Express-News, March 9, 2018: https://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/Count-all-the-people-just-as-the-Constitution-12742298.php
CAC Letter to Wilbur Ross, U.S. Secretary of Commerce: Census Citizenship Question “Threatens to Undermine Your Constitutional Duty,” February 15, 2018:
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