2010 census lacks citizenship question

Washington Times-Water Cooler ^ | 1/11/10 | Kerry Picket

[paltz]

This year, the United States Census Bureau is taking heat for question 9 on the new census form which reads: "What is Person 1's race?" -- the second option reads: "Black, African-Am., or Negro." Census officials defend their decision for the category, saying that a number of individuals wrote in "Negro" in the 2000 census. Actually, the 2000 Census included the same race options as the 2010 census form. However, what is striking in the 2010 census form is the lack of citizenship or birthplace question.

[Belasarius]

This writer is just plain, embarrassingly wrong. I commented on the article. Unless he is complaining because the Census introduced the American Community Survey instead of the Census long form. This is wierd. The 2000 census form he is linking here... [url="http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/form2000.shtml"]2000 Enumeration Form[/url] ... is different than the 2000 informational census form that I found on the Census Bureau site here [url="http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d-61b.pdf"]2000 Informational Enumeration Form (US Census)[/url] The questions don't line up exactly but it doesn't matter. The origin and citizenship questions are in both a few numbers off.

I'm pretty suspicious of this census but I do, in fact see the origin and citizenship questions in the American Community Survey on page 7, questions 7, 8, and 9. On the year 2000 long form the same questions are on page 4, questions 12, 13, and 14.

[paltz]

It's how the short form will end up being used.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/11/senate_kills_census_citizenshi.html:

"The Senate voted Thursday to block a Republican attempt to require the Census Bureau to ask people for their citizenship status during next year's decennial census. Lawmakers voted 60 to 39 to effectively kill an amendment by Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Robert Bennett (R-Utah) that would have excluded illegal immigrants from population totals used to apportion Congressional seats in each state. The pair argued that the high numbers of illegal immigrants in larger, heavily-urbanized states would mean that at least nine other states would lose Congressional seats following next year's census. The proposed amendment would have been added to the 2010 Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Bill. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/11/senate_kills_census_citizenshi.html

[Tench_Coxe]

So, will the Obama census bureau count illegals as 2/3 of a person or a whole person?

[paltz]

The American Community Survey does not count towards Congressional apportionment. The Decennial Census does, however. ACS is to measure the changing social and economic characteristics of the U.S. population.

[Belasarius]

Ah, thanks for the additional information. I had just got my nightly call from the census trying to get me to send in my ACS. I came here looking for information on this. I sense I/we are getting screwed but it’s not been clear to me how. It seems to me if a corresponding number of Americans refused the census then any gains in illegal aliens would be negated. Is that how it goes?