Today’s Question and Answer We received a large number of responses to our question about whether the U.S. census should ask about citizenship status. Here are a few of them: Joe Novitzki, Colombia The purpose of a census is to obtain accurate information about the population. Asking a question about citizenship will almost certainly discourage participation when it is already difficult to obtain a sufficient level. When it comes to voting on elected officials and the future of our country, citizenship should absolutely be required, but in a census, let it be. Eduard van Loenen, Maine I am a legal immigrant who had to deal with constant uncertainty while waiting years for our lottery number to come up, and then be ready to move quickly. As part of the process, we had to show proof of immunization and good health, have the promise of a job, and have a sponsor in this country who agreed to take financial responsibility in case we fell on hard times. I simply cannot understand how we have now come to actually wanting to welcome people who illegally walk across our border, without knowing anything about them, while people in the rest of the world who want to come here are simply out of luck and must comply with the legal process. It is very unfair and unjust. We could apply for citizenship only after having lived blemish-free lives here for five years, and after having to study and then take a citizenship test. I can't believe that we are even debating this citizenship census question. Of course we should know this information! Drew Kelley, Nevada It is appropriate that the census knows how many citizens of which country are currently residing in the U.S. Then, at least, one agency of the U.S. government will have that information, because we know that State and Homeland Security haven't a clue. Kimball R. Adams, Florida Yes, we should ask people’s status for two reasons. First, to determine if they are eligible to participate in the census. Many people living here, either legally or illegally, are ineligible to take the census. How will they/we know if they are eligible unless we ask? Second, so we can actually know who is here rather than guessing, which is important for many reasons... Noncitizens have unique needs and we need to know how many are here to plan for providing for those needs. For example, illegal immigrants aren’t building Social Security and Medicare credits. Who will pay their expenses when they can no longer work? Illegal immigrants are more susceptible to exploitation. How can we mitigate this if we don’t know where the exploited are? It is ludicrous not to know—and/or not to want to know—who is living in this country, let alone who is living on your block or in your apartment building. Wally Stummy, New York The census asks all sorts of irrelevant questions, including questions at odds with a colorblind society that seem relevant only to promoting tribalism in politics. Finding out who is or isn't a citizen, by contrast, is actually relevant to the administration of government. As a naturalized citizen, it is clear to me the impact of turning a blind eye to illegal immigration—the real policy preference of activist groups objecting to gathering citizenship information—falls first of all on legal immigrants and genuine refugees. When politicians refuse to fund the enforcement of border and immigration laws on the books, they repeat the mistakes of the 1920s, when lax enforcement led to more strict laws. Who paid the price? Refugees ahead of World War II who were turned away. The open-borders fans are foolishly pushing us into the same type of backlash. Todd Frank, California The real question is, why would one of our political parties want you remain unaware of how many people are in the country illegally? How does that help them politically? Why else would they be fighting this attempt so strongly? Richard Spaulding, New Jersey No, this question shouldn’t be allowed. The heart of the issue is that despite the Census Bureau being compelled legally to protect the identities of those responding, the White House insists that the question be added. This raises the question: Why? And now Trump moves to block disclosure of documents that speak to the question of why. Big red flags here. It is reasonable to be concerned that after the census, the GOP will try to leverage the results to declare some sort of national emergency and move to have access to individual responses, changing the law and eliminating the elements of anonymity and privacy. All Americans should be concerned about that potential beyond questions of citizenship status. The Constitution simply requires that everyone is counted. Let’s leave that be. Question for the next 10-Point: Would you use Facebook’s new cryptocurrency? Why or why not? Email us your comments, which we may edit before publication, to 10point@wsj.com, and make sure to include your first and last name and location. |