President Trump's determined effort to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census has been thwarted at every turn — by the courts, the coronavirus, the Constitution, and now by the clock.
Census Bureau documents released Wednesday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee suggest that the final apportionment count won't be delivered to the president until at least Jan. 23, three days after President-elect Joe Biden takes office, because of at least 15 data anomalies affecting more than a million census records. Biden opposes Trump's proposed exclusion of non-citizens.
"These anomalies are more serious than first reported," Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a letter, threatening to subpoena requested documents on the census if he does not hand them over.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The apportionment data, which will be used to divide the 435 House seats among 50 states, is supposed to be delivered to the president by Dec. 31, but it's been clear for a few weeks that the Census Bureau would miss that deadline. Acting Solicitor General Jeff Wall told the Supreme Court in oral arguments Monday that the bureau would miss the deadline but could deliver some of the data in January.
The Supreme Court blocked Trump in 2019 from adding a citizenship question to the census, and the justices seemed skeptical Monday that Trump can legally exclude undocumented immigrants from the decennial head count. Lower courts have ruled against the exclusion, pointing to the Constitution and its 14th Amendment. The census has never before used citizenship status to apportion congressional representation.
The Census Bureau, in an unsigned statement, did not dispute the authenticity of the documents but said "the estimated date that apportionment data will be complete remains in flux," and "internal tracking documents would not convey the uncertainty around projected dates and may fail to reflect the additional resources employed to correct data anomalies."
-
Tips for seizing control of your digital well-beingThe Week Recommends A handy mix of technology and self-motivation
-
Thieves nab French crown jewels from LouvreSpeed Read A gang of thieves stole 19th century royal jewels from the Paris museum’s Galerie d’Apollon
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rivalSpeed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Bolivia elects centrist over far-right presidential rival
Speed Read Relative political unknown Rodrigo Paz, a centrist senator, was elected president
-
Madagascar president in hiding, refuses to resignSpeed Read Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid Gen Z protests and unrest
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Israel, Hamas agree to first step of Trump peace planSpeed Read Israel’s military pulls back in Gaza amid prisoner exchange
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a weekSpeed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime ministerSpeed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
Israel and Hamas meet on hostages, Trump’s planSpeed Read Hamas accepted the general terms of Trump’s 20-point plan, including the release of all remaining hostages
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
