It might seem obscure and distant, but whether the U.S. Supreme Court allows a question about a person’s citizenship on the 2020 census could have a direct impact on Utah schools, roads and a host of services in communities around our state.
For close to 70 years, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the citizenship question has not been included in the count that takes place every 10 years. The bureau’s own statisticians estimate that including it would mean 6.5 million people living in our country would not be counted.
Despite the warnings that the question would make the census less accurate, not more accurate, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross chose to include it anyway.