Edwards: Restore the citizenship question on the U.S. census

U.S. Congressman Chuck Edwards (NC-11) today introduced the Voter Population Accuracy Act to require the Bureau of the Census to ask respondents about their citizenship status on the United States census that occurs every 10 years.

Every U.S. census conducted between 1890 and 1950 included a question on citizenship status. Since 1950, the U.S. has only included a citizenship question on the long-form census questionnaire, which is sent to only 5-16 percent of American households.

The failure to evaluate whether a great majority of census respondents are American citizens has made it impossible to determine or even accurately estimate the number of illegal immigrants in this country.

The Voter Population Accuracy Act will allow the U.S. to obtain a more precise number and location of illegal immigrants residing in America by:

• Requiring the Census Bureau to reinstate a citizenship question in all future decennial censuses.
• Requiring that the citizenship question specify whether the respondent and every member of the respondent’s household are U.S. citizens.

Congressman Edwards said, “As Ronald Reagan wisely said, ‘A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.’ With the ongoing invasion of our country’s borders and points of entry, we don’t know who’s entering our country or where they’re staying. Among other things, the census is used to determine congressional representation and inform funding for federal programs. The American people deserve to know how many citizens live in this country and how many noncitizens are here. The Voter Population Accuracy Act will once again require the Census Bureau to ask the basic, commonsense question of whether someone is an American citizen.”