Petition Language:
We, the undersigned, call on our New York Members of Congress to demand Congressional oversight hearings with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on his decision to add an untested, unnecessary, and divisive citizenship question to the 2020 decennial census.

Petition Background:
A successful 2020 census is critical for communities across New York State, and an inaccurate count will impact ALL New Yorkers. Without a full and accurate count, we risk losing seats in Congress and billions of dollars in federal funding for vital services such as healthcare, childcare and education, nutrition, housing, and infrastructure.

This is why a citizenship question is so problematic. The Constitution requires the Census Bureau to count all persons, not just citizens. The decision by Secretary Ross and the Trump Administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census at the last minute is a veiled attempt to stoke fear and distrust in immigrant communities. It bypasses the Census Bureau's own testing procedures, and will be counterproductive to an accurate and fair Census Count.

The House Oversight Government Reform Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee have the power to demand an explanation from Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on his decision to include this question on the 2020 decennial census.

Secretary Ross claims this question is important to protecting voting rights. Don't be fooled. The Census already gets this information elsewhere. And the current Justice Department has yet to defend the voting rights of any marginalized group.  

We need these hearings so we can get answers. Secretary Ross must explain why he ignored the advice of Census officials, including six former Census Bureau directors from Republican and Democratic administrations; how the the inclusion of the question will impact the Census Bureau’s ability to reach and count all communities equally well, especially in the current environment of fear; and what objective evidence he has to demonstrate that a citizenship question would not exacerbate this fear.