Thank you for the job you do presenting complete news. In Marc A. Thiessen’s March 30 column was a well-written argument for the inclusion of the citizenship question in the 2020 census, and adjacent was a good editorial to protect the accuracy of the census. Two different viewpoints informing me, yet allowing me to chose which would I support. This is why I choose to renew my subscription.
The citizenship question I believe is not required to determine representation for congressional districts. For instance legal immigrants are required to complete the census and their number is used in district population numbers. Prior to the Civil War, slaves were not considered citizens and were counted as three-fifths of a person for congressional districts. I think it is a misnomer to call a person who has crossed the border and is seeking asylum illegal. Congress has made them legal as they work their way through our courts. The Supreme Court has ruled that visitors have the same rights as do citizens outside of voting, running for and holding office, and that sort of thing. They have a right to equal protection of the law, but when they are arrested and deported if they use the police or court system, it is not equal protection.
Census information is confidential, but the census districts are small, a small raid interviewing everyone in the district would take very little time, so I can see the reluctance to fill out the form if I was not a citizen. Citizenship and congressional representation do not use the same numbers so there is no need for the question.
Chuck Best
Duvall
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