Kids Forward works so that every kid, every family, and every community in Wisconsin thrives. At a time when immigrant communities in our state and across the country are being vilified and attacked at the highest levels of our government, the Trump Administration is taking another step that will hurt immigrant kids and families. The U.S. Department of Commerce plans to add a question about citizenship status to the census. This may sound benign, but it is in fact a reckless, political tactic designed to suppress the counts of immigrant kids and families. This is being done despite clear direction in the Constitution that the census is supposed to count everyone, regardless of citizenship status.

People who aren’t citizens may avoid being counted because of fears of how the government may use the information—fears that are grounded in President Trump’s offensive rhetoric and cruel policies that continue to rip apart immigrant families and make it harder for them to succeed. The government is not allowed to share census data with enforcement agencies. But as President Trump threatens communities and falsely links immigration levels to crime, it is understandable that immigrants may be wary of providing information about their citizenship status to any agency of the federal government.

A census undercount in Wisconsin will not only hurt those who are not counted, it will hurt all Wisconsinites. This is because the census determines the number of Congressional districts allocated to each state as well as the allocation of federal funding for essential programs and services. Relying on inaccurate counts will mean that Wisconsin residents from every community may not get the representation or resources they deserve.

This decision by the Trump Administration will lead to undercounts and goes against overwhelming expert advice:

• The Census Bureau warned against adding the question;
• All living former Census Bureau directors, who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, have objected to adding the citizenship question;
• The American Statistical Association strongly cautioned against adding the question.

One of the ways Kids Forward works to support every kid, every family, and every community in Wisconsin is through high-quality research and analysis that drives our advocacy. But we cannot do this work if we do not have accurate and trustworthy sources of information at our disposal. Data from the United States Census is the backbone of much of the public policy research and analysis we do at Kids Forward, the Wisconsin Budget Project, and Race to Equity.

Kids Forward will be monitoring developments at the federal and state level, advocating for an accurate census, and communicating with allies and supporters about how they can help advocate for this fundamental, Constitutional requirement. If we play politics with the information sources we rely on to meet the needs of Wisconsin residents, we put more than the accuracy of the data at risk—we threaten the well-being of every community in the state.

Ken Taylor, ED/CEO