Citizenship Question Controversy Complicating Census 2020 Work, Bureau Director Says
Facing multiple lawsuits over addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census, the U.S. Census Bureau head tells NPR a long legal fight could raise the head count's cost and risk a bad count.
The head of the U.S. Census Bureau says the controversy over a new question about U.S. citizenship on the 2020 census is complicating its preparations to conduct a national head count.
For the first time since 1950, the Census Bureau will ask all U.S. households about citizenship status, specifically, "Is this person a citizen of the United States?"
"Controversy about the content of the census does complicate our messaging," acting U.S. Census Bureau Director Ron Jarmin says in an exclusive interview with NPR. Jarmin is overseeing the 2020 census, the once-in-a-decade head count of every person living in the U.S.
