The United States census is essential to a fair democracy. The data influences seats in Congress along with funding for important aspects of society, such as with public schools and infrastructure.
The upcoming 2020 census has become increasingly problematic for Massachusetts politicians, as the state is known as one of the hardest to count. According to a recent report by Boston Indicators, among major U.S. cities, Boston has the largest share of its population living in “hard-to-count” census tracts.
The Boston Indicators report points to a large share of renters and people living in group quarters, such as college dorms, as problem areas for the census. These trends affect Boston but also reach the rest of the country since many residents — particularly college students and immigrants — are less likely to respond.
The Department of Justice, backed by the Trump administration, proposed adding a question regarding citizenship to the 2020 census. This directly targets immigrants and would scare refugees, immigrants or other families from responding at all. What was once an objective method of maintaining reliable data has become a political tool.
The census guides how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state is allocated and determines the distribution of an estimated $880 billion in funding. Adding a question that deters a predominantly minority population from responding and therefore being underrepresented is systemic oppression.
The Supreme Court is expected to address the issue this month. Regardless, our country’s current political climate combined with the proposal to add a citizenship question — whether it is actually included on the census or not — will likely cause lower counts.
Underrepresentation is already a pressing issue in Boston because of the City’s historical lack of female, nonwhite representatives in government and agencies.
Massachusetts officials are planning to ensure as much accuracy in the count as possible, starting with preparing residents for the census. For many undocumented immigrants, this will be the first time they have participated in the U.S. census, and it is unlikely they will welcome someone showing up at their door and asking them questions, especially if a question concerns their citizenship status.
Officials also want to remind households the Census Bureau is forbidden from sharing the information they collect with any other agencies, including law enforcement.
The census is not just for research and statistics — it fuels our representative democracy laid out by the Constitution. Scaring a substantial population away from being counted has the same tune as scaring citizens away from the polls.
Especially in cities like Boston, the government should be taking steps, as it has recently, toward making sure that everyone is counted and Massachusetts gets the federal resources it deserves.
Victoria is studying Economics and International Relations in the College of Arts and Sciences in the Class of 2022. Aside from The Daily Free Press, they're involved in WTBU Radio and Greek life on campus and are a Dean’s Ambassador in the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. When Victoria's not writing or editing, they're listening to podcasts and trying new coffee. Find them on twitter at @victoriagbond
