Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), the Quaker lobby, applauds the Supreme Court’s ruling this morning that the administration did not provide adequate justification to include a question on citizenship in the 2020 census.
Contact: Tim McHugh, Friends Committee on National Legislation, media@fcnl.org; 202-903-2515
“Today’s Supreme Court decision protects American democracy, the rule of law, and perhaps most importantly, the foundational belief that we are all equal before the law,” said Diane Randall, FCNL’s executive secretary. “As a Quaker organization, we advocate that no individual or community should be disenfranchised by federal policy. Every person counts and therefore should and must be counted.”
The citizenship question has not been included in the census since 1950. There have been concerns that including such a question would intimidate noncitizens and dilute response rates leading to the underrepresentation of vast numbers of minority communities.
FCNL submitted public comments to the Census Bureau last year, detailing its opposition to the proposed citizenship question and why it should be struck down. Many faith-based organizations also took issue with citizenship question, viewing it as partisan and at cross-purposes with getting the most accurate count of the nation’s population.
“Now that this issue is settled, the U.S. government should move ahead with the 2020 census and get the fullest, fairest count of our population. That is and has always been the goal,” said Randall.
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
