Census Rejects Anti-Immigrant Amendment
Senate Votes Down Vitter Amendment on Census
WASHINGTON — Today, the Senate upheld the Constitution and rejected a xenophobic attempt to force people to reveal their immigration status as part of the 2010 Census.
By a count of 60-39, the Senate voted to proceed with Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations, which include funding for the census, without an amendment by Republican Sens. David Vitter (La.) and Bob Bennett (Utah) that would have stripped Census 2010 funding unless it required residents to answer questions on U.S. citizenship and immigration status.
“This is a huge victory for the civil rights community,” said Vincent A. Eng, deputy director at the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC). “Not only is Sen. Vitter’s and Sen. Bennett’s proposal unconstitutional, it would have discouraged immigrants from responding to the census, costs millions of dollars and would have delayed the 2010 count.”
AAJC, a national advocacy organization working to advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, joined other civil rights groups in urging the Senate to exclude the proposal because it runs contrary to the 14th Amendment, which states that the apportionment of members of the House of Representatives is based on the “whole number of persons” residing in a state.
“The Vitter amendment would have been very detrimental to ensuring an accurate count of the Asian American community, which is 60 percent foreign-born,” Eng continued.
AAJC is a national partner of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund’s national collaborative campaign to educate the nation about the importance of a fair and accurate census in 2010. To learn more about our census project, visit us on the Web at www.asianamericancensus.org.
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The Asian American Justice Center (www.advancingequality.org) is a national organization dedicated to defending and advancing the civil and human rights of Asian Americans. It works closely with three affiliates – the Asian American Institute of Chicago (www.aaichicago.org), the Asian Law Caucus (www.asianlawcaucus.org) in San Francisco, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (www.apalc.org) in Los Angeles – and 102 community partners in 47 cities and 25 states in the country.
For additional information on this release, please contact:
Nicole Duran
Email: nduran@advancingequality.org
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
The NRFU phase, which stands for “Non-Response Follow-Up,” is the last in the Census process and represents the final push to collect Census information. The NRFU campaign encourages households who have not returned their Census form to welcome and cooperate with the Census taker that may knock on their door. Messaging for the NRFU campaign assures all that Census takers are sworn to secrecy and that they are there to help.
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