Civil rights advocates are looking side-eyed at new requests being made that can prove U.S. citizenship. The U.S. Census Bureau will now be asking for the state to supply driver's license records and information on those who are receiving government assistance.
This just doesn't seem right. Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that specific citizenship questions cannot be included on the 2020 U.S. Census questionnaire, somehow President Trump continues to make citizenship the focal point of information-gathering by the government in next year's census.
A red flag from Civil rights advocates has gone up because they fear Latino participation in the U.S. Census would be skewed, and that would have a direct affect on several things including how many congressional seats each state would have and the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars of federal funding. Plus the results of the 2020 Census would also be used to redraw state and local electoral maps, according to the Associate Press.
Looks like the powers that be in Illinois are not with this information-gathering tactic either. Secretary of State Jesse White has declined the request.