2010 CENSUS AND IMMIGRATION

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the Constitution to take place every 10 years. The 2010 Census will help communities receive over $400 billion dollars in federal funds. The data collected by the Census will also determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. Earlier last week, Senator David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, proposed an amendment that would require the 2010 Census to ask a citizenship question to each resident.

Senator Vitter added this amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science spending bill and would ban the use and distribution of federal funds if this question is not added to the Census. Senator Vitter’s original question included a question about the resident’s legal status in the United States. Civil rights and lobby groups are working overtime urging Senators to oppose this last minute amendment to the Census. Senator Vitter argues that since data collected from the Census determines redistricting, special care should be given so that only U.S. citizens are counted towards allocating seats in the House of Representatives. Only time will tell whether this immigration question will show up in our census forms in 2010.
 

Source: Census 2010; Shreveport Times