Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
Made with Flourish

Civil rights groups sound alarm about a coming census undercount

Made with Flourish
Made with Flourish

Staffing cutbacks, poor planning and inadequate outreach by the federal government all threaten an undercount of minority group members, the poor and rural Americans in the coming census, leaders of civil rights groups are warning Congress.

After failing a decade ago to count more than 1.5 million African-Americans and Latinos, as well as 50,000 American Indians and Native Alaskans, the Census Bureau's planned reduction of local offices and field workers for the enumeration this spring has sparked fears that the 2020 undercount will be even more significant — and with lasting consequences.

Such inaccuracies could result in several congressional seats being given to the wrong states, and billions of dollars in federal aid being wrongly allocated for the next decade, the civil rights advocates told a House panel on Thursday.


"The risk for the nation and the risk for our communities is grave," National Urban League CEO Marc Morial, which advocates on behalf of African-American communities, told the Oversight and Reform Committee.

"When your constituents are not counted in the census, they remain invisible for the next 10 years," testified Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights. "There are no do-overs. We must get the count right the first time."

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney expressed concern that will happen, considering the bureau is behind on hiring temporary workers to reach traditionally hard-to-count communities. The count begins this month in Alaska and nationwide in March.

"Cyber threats, limited broadband access, reduced language assistance and gaps in outreach efforts all threaten the success of the Census," the New York Democrat said. "With so much at stake, vigorous oversight of the 2020 Census is absolutely essential."

The once-a-decade headcount not only determines how more than $1 trillion in federal funding is allocated to states but also their number of congressional seats. Based on population estimates the government produced last month, 10 states mostly in the Northeast and Midwest are on course to lose one seat each and seven states mostly in the South and West are expecting to gain them.

Staffing issues aside, the panel also urged lawmakers to pressure the bureau to do more to offset the damage caused by the Trump administration's failed efforts to include a citizenship question on the Census, a lingering fear that may affect response rates within immigrant communities, said Arturo Vargas, CEO of the NALEO Educational Fund, a Latino advocacy group.

The bureau has a responsibility to "provide Latinos and the general public with assurances about the confidentiality of their data," he said.

Thursday's hearing is only the first in a series of Census oversight hearings planned this year, starting next month with testimony from Bureau Director Steven Dillingham, Maloney said.

Made with Flourish

Read More

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump shaking hands
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the 2019 G20 summit in Oasaka, Japan.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Shameful Concessions Will Not End Putin’s Threat to World Peace

Our President has proposed a shameful give-away of Crimea and an additional chunk of Ukraine to Vladimir Putin. This compounds President Obama’s shameful acquiescence in Putin’s seizing Crimea, and President Biden’s also failing to live up to the security assurances that the United States and Russia gave Ukraine in 1994 when Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal in the Budapest Memorandum.

From my experience as a litigation attorney who participated in numerous mediations before retiring, I have found that successful mediations require a realistic assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, wants, and needs of the parties, including their willingness to take a calculated risk. In court, one never knows what a judge or jury will do. The outcome of war is likewise uncertain. In negotiations, wants should not obscure a realistic assessment of one’s needs. A party’s unmet true nonnegotiable needs can justify the risk. What are the needs of Ukraine, Russia, and the West?

Keep ReadingShow less
Michael Rivera: The Importance of Getting Involved
- YouTube

Michael Rivera: The Importance of Getting Involved

Michael Rivera is the Berks County Commissioner. The Republican began serving in January of 2020.

"My number one priority is fiscal responsibility," Rivera said in describing the focus of his work as County Commissioner. "Counties generate their money primarily through property taxes. My commitment to the residents of Berks County is to be fiscally responsible with their money."

Keep ReadingShow less
Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.

Republican Sen. Kim Hammer, left of center, answers questions about proposed laws that would alter the citizen-initiated ballot measure process during an Arkansas Senate committee hearing in February.

Credit:Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate

Red State Voters Approved Progressive Measures. GOP Lawmakers Are Trying to Undermine Them.

Across the country, Republican lawmakers have been working to undermine or altogether undo the will of the voters by making it harder to pass amendments and laws through citizen-led initiatives.

In Missouri, the 2025 legislative session was dominated by Republican lawmakers trying to reverse two major measures that voters had put on the ballot and approved just months before; one made abortion in the state legal again, while the other created an employee sick leave requirement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Populist podcasters love RFK Jr., and he took the same left-right turn toward Trump as they did
Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Tariffs, Vaccines & Chronic Disease: The Hidden Link

When public figures take actions that contradict both expert consensus and common sense, we’re left to wonder: What are they thinking?

Two recent examples—Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine rhetoric—illustrate the puzzling nature of such choices.

Keep ReadingShow less