After whistleblower complaints, Census Bureau drops last-ditch effort to strip out non-citizens


Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a memo Wednesday that he is indefinitely halting a Trump administration effort to gather the citizenship status of everyone in the U.S., telling workers struggling to comply with a Friday deadline to "'stand down' and discontinue their data reviews."
On Tuesday, the Commerce Department's inspector general's office had reported that bureau workers were under significant pressure from two Trump political appointees, Nathaniel Cogley and Benjamin Overholt, to produce data on who is in the U.S. illegally. Any such data would be incomplete, misused, and detrimental to the Census Bureau's reputation, the inspector general said.
Dillingham's decision effectively ends, again, President Trump's unprecedented two-year effort to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census. A Trump administration lawyer said Monday that the apportionment data won't be processed until at least early March, weeks after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The census numbers are used to determine how many congressional seats each state gets and how $1.5 trillion in federal spending is divided up. A prominent Republican operative had advocated stripping out non-citizens to help Republicans and white Americans.
Subscribe to 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.
"President Trump tried and failed throughout his entire presidency to weaponize the census for his attacks on immigrant communities," said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project. "It appears he has failed yet again." Before Dillingham released his memo Wednesday, a coalition of civil rights groups had called on him to resign. His five-year term is not up until the end of 2021.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Ukraine-Russia: is peace deal possible after Easter truce?
Today's Big Question 'Decisive week' will tell if Putin's surprise move was cynical PR stunt or genuine step towards ending war
By The Week UK
-
The bougie foods causing international shortages
In the Spotlight Pistachios join avocados and matcha on list of social media-driven crazes that put strain on supply chains and environment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK
-
Strep infections are rising in the US
Under the radar The cases have more than doubled in 10 years
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medics
speed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designation
The Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
China accuses NSA of Winter Games cyberattacks
speed read China alleges that the U.S. National Security Agency launched cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Russian strike kills dozens in Ukraine
Speed Read The Sumy ballistic missile strike was Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
South Korea court removes impeached president
Speed Read The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law in December
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifies
speed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson