Actions

Pugh weighs in on 2020 census controversy

Posted at 8:20 AM, Mar 30, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-30 08:20:32-04

Growing controversy over the upcoming census. Now Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is weighing in.

Earlier this week the Census Bureau announced the 2020 census would include a question asking residents their citizenship status.

Pugh, who is the Chairwoman of the Census Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, is one of many calling for the question to be removed. She told Fox News the U.S. Conference of Mayors came to the conclusion that it is not an appropriate question for the census. "Everyone who is in this country should be counted so that we can make sure the resources that are needed in the communities which there exist are shared properly," said Pugh.

Officials are concerned the citizenship status question could cause fewer immigrants to participate in the census and cause an inaccurate count.

The census determines how much federal funding and how many congressional seats states get for a 10-year period. "Those resources go to infrastructure, they go to schools, they go to community development. And all those things are important to all of us, whether we are Democrats or whether we are Republicans," said Pugh

The Department of Justice requested the citizenship question be added to the 2020 census. The department said it needs that information to better enforce voting discrimination under the Voting Rights Act.

Since U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced on March 26 that the 2020 census will ask about citizenship several states, including California, have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration to get the question removed.

A citizenship question has not been on the census since World War II.