Hirono, Menendez, Booker Joint Statement on SCOTUS Decision on Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J) issued the following joint statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Trump Administration’s justification for adding a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. Earlier this year, Senators Hirono, Menendez, and Booker introduced the Every Person Counts Act (S. 201), legislation that would prohibit the Secretary of Commerce from including any question regarding one’s citizenship or immigration status on the U.S. Census.

The Senators said:

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling on the 2020 Census citizenship question is a temporary reprieve for immigrant and minority communities targeted by the Trump Administration to deliberately suppress their participation. In its decision, the nation’s highest court recognized the Trump Administration has lied to the American people about its true political motivations for including a citizenship question, calling the Administration’s justification for the question ‘contrived.’

“But let’s be clear, this is not the end of our fight against the Trump Administration’s deceptive tactics to stoke fear in immigrants and communities of color. To ensure that our communities are accurately counted and that the Census remains a fair and non-partisan exercise, Congress must now act and pass our Every Person Counts Act.”  

“Our Constitution requires an accurate count of all persons living in the United States—period.  Allowing a politically-motivated question explicitly designed to rig the count would have lasting and devastating effects for states like New Jersey and Hawaii, as we rely on the Census to determine representation in Congress and the allocation of federal funding for public health and safety, education, and other services our residents and communities depend upon.” 

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