pinqy
Gold Member
it’s a matter of intent. For example, it is not illegal to ask about race or ethnicity on a job application. But discriminating on the basis of race is. So if the reason for asking is to discriminate, then asking is illegal because of the intent.The citizenship question has been asked many times in prior censuses, even as recent as 2000, therefore it is NOT illegal and needs to be included. If it was unconstitutional it would have been removed and documented previously. Trump needs to add it and deal with the legal ramifications later.
In the case if the Census, we now have the American Community Survey which is legally part of the Census. It asks many questions which were previously part of the long form Census questionnaire. No questions beyond existence are constitutionally required.
Therefore, there is no statistical need for the question to be on the main form. What then is the reason for asking? The reason seems to be to intentionally achieve an undercount of Hispanic residents. And that is clearly an unconstitutional purpose.