A Jan. 24 Washington Post article reported that the U.S. Census Department is considering adding the question “Are you a citizen?” to the 2020 Census. Supporters claim that this would provide more accurate data about the country's population and demographics, while detractors allege that this is an effort to suppress Hispanic voters and give the Republican Party an unfair advantage. Do you believe the U.S. Census Department should add citizenship to the 2020 census, and if so, what effects do you think such a decision would have?

Noah Seligman ’18

Yes. I believe it should be added. America’s number one responsibility should be to take care of its citizens and ensure the integrity of our democracy. In short, it makes no sense to allow districts with higher populations of non-citizens to have a disproportionate amount of political clout. Whether they are Mexican or Russian, no one except for Americans should be allowed to influence our electoral process. This would not give the Republican party an “unfair” advantage. It would be correcting a bias that would let us more accurately identify the will of the American people, the ultimate directive of a functioning democracy. It’s hard to contemplate how this would suppress the Hispanic vote. Any illegal immigrant, regardless of race, ethnicity or nationality, is not and should not be able to vote in American elections. Anyone here legally is obligated to vote, especially given voter turnout in recent elections.
Noah Seligman ’18 is president of the Brandeis Pre-Law Society.

Lucy Pugh-Sellers ’20

Adding the question “Are you a citizen” to the 2020 Census could have disastrous consequences for both the Census itself and communities nation-wide. First, the question would not provide any more accurate data to the census, as presumably those that would answer “no” and be flagged as “illegal” would refuse to answer the census in the first place. I cannot imagine that with the American government targeting so-called “illegal” immigrants left and right, that anyone would answer “no” that question. Furthermore, it could lead to people lying and saying “yes” if they did choose to fill out the survey, contributing to misinformation and rendering the question pointless. I would also question the purported motivations of the United States Department of Justice and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Although they claim to want to actually prevent discrimination, recent past champions of this cause have been solely Republicans. This coincides perfectly with the centering of the tenant of deporting as many non-citizen immigrants as possible to the Republican Party platform, as well as the repeated concerted effort to disenfranchise classically Democratic voters through suppression and gerrymandering.
Lucy Pugh-Sellers ’20 is majoring in History with minors in Film and Legal Studies. 

Taminder Singh ’20

I believe that the U.S. Census Department should not add the question “Are you a citizen.” Let us be honest, the main base of the Republican Party consists of white males. That being said, many State-wide public offices are held by Republicans. Republicans are notoriously known to use gerrymandering to have more seats in the House in their favor. While using ethnicity and citizenship status, Republicans can create county lines as they wish to favor their party needs. Also, offices like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can use this to narrow down which place has the least amount of citizens and target them. The addition of this question will fully be based on racism and political strategy, nothing else. Under Trump’s America, no non-citizen minority is safe. The U.S. Consensus should be more reasonable for adding such a question.
Taminder Singh ’20 is majoring in Economics and Computer Science with a minor in Politics. 

Lizzie Grossman ’18

I do not believe that the 2020 Census should ask about citizenship. I do not think that political districts should be based on whether or not its individuals are citizens. For one, illegal immigrants could be more easily targeted by the government if they are able to get a count of which areas have the most non-citizens. In addition, individuals are members of a community regardless of whether or not they are able to vote. Many non-citizens want to become citizens eventually, and asking whether or not they are citizens for the purpose of political districts only further oppresses Hispanic voters by not including them in a political district they are part of, especially those who live in areas that are immigrant-heavy. I would hope that if the 2020 Census were to not ask about citizenship, there would be more motivation to help immigrants fight for citizenship in order to gain voting rights.
Lizzie Grossman ’18 is an associate editor for the Justice.