Says proposal would cut representation, erase civil rights data.
By P.C. Staff
The Japanese American Citizens League issued a statement Sept. 10 in opposition to a proposal being pushed by the White House for 2030 that would see the Census Bureau modify the types of demographic data, including information about race and ethnicity it has collected every 10 years since 1790, and seek to count only U.S. citizens and those with permanent resident status.
Under the status quo, the Census Bureau attempts to count everyone living in the U.S. According to JACL, however, this proposal would cause harm to civil rights advances by leaving potentially millions uncounted. Among its many functions, the constitutionally mandated decennial headcount affects the number of members each state gets in the House of Representatives, how federal funds are disbursed and more. The proposal would exclude people whose legal immigration status is pending, including refugees and asylum seekers, as well as unauthorized migrants and people with Temporary Protected Status.
Regarding how the proposal would end collecting data on race and ethnicity, as well as the more recently added questions on sexual orientation, JACL said such a ban is “ … is antithetical to the nature of the Census. The data the Census records is meant to accurately represent our nation and is the basis for the Voting Rights Act, political representation, federal funding formulas, and other policies meant to support individual states, counties, and municipalities.”
The nation’s oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization also invoked the 14th Amendment to the Constitution: “Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment states clearly that ‘Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State…’ The Census Bureau justifies the exclusion in the proposed rule by pointing to these residents’ ‘lack of a sufficient tie and allegiance to the United States.’ While the drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment made an exclusion for ‘Indians not taxed, ‘ there was never any mention of excluding someone based on citizenship or immigration status.”
The statement concluded with the following: “JACL urges our chapters, members, and allies to submit comments, and we call on the Census Bureau to withdraw this proposal.” It is open to public comment for 30 days. To read the proposal, visit tinyurl.com/jthpdkjy. To comment on FDMS Docket number USBC-2026-0628 electronically, go to regulations.gov and enter USBC-2026-0628 in the Search box. Click on the “Comment” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. To submit written comments by mail, write to 4600 Silver Hill Rd., Designation: ADDEMO/FRN, Washington, DC 20746.
The JACL’s statement may be read in it entirety here.
