Vineyard officials are sounding the alarm on proposed changes to the census that could undercount people living on the Island.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission argued against several of the amendments being considered by the Census Bureau in a letter last week, joining the more than 130,000 commenters nationwide in the decision-making process.
“It’s a couple years away, but it is important to make sure that, after 250 years, we don’t change the rules because one person is in office and has decided to do it,” Adam Turner, the commission executive director, said at last week’s commission meeting.
For the 2030 count, the Census Bureau is considering not counting immigrants who are illegally in the country and not asking all residents about their race and ethnicity. The bureau released the proposal on Sept. 10 and closed comments on Monday.
The proposed changes would be major departures on how the U.S. has counted people living in the country for more than two centuries, and could have ripple effects on the Vineyard. In the past, people living in each state, regardless of their citizenship status, were included in the census.
In the proposal, the Census Bureau argued that undocumented immigrants should not be counted “due to their lack of sufficient tie and allegiance” to the U.S.
The bureau also questioned the need to continue asking people about their race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
“Substantial doubts about the meaning, significance, and impact of attempting to categorize persons by race and ethnicity, in particular, have featured prominently in our national discourse and have been reflected in shifts in the law,” the bureau wrote.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission argued that rescinding the standing criteria for the census count and questionnaire did not appear justified and would clearly diminish the usefulness of the census moving forward.
“Many non-citizens in the US are devoted members of their communities, pay taxes, provide essential services, etc,” Mr. Turner wrote in his letter to the bureau. “They spend the majority of their time working, raising families, and otherwise reading in a state. By longstanding convention, this should qualify them for inclusion in the Census.”
Who is included in the census could have wide-ranging effects on the government and funding. For instance, the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are divided up between the states based on the census. The race and ethnicity data is also used in redistricting and for civil rights laws.
Changes to the data could also hurt the MVC, according to Mr. Turner.
The commission works with state and local agencies to carry out initiatives for housing, transportation, water quality, economic development and climate resilience.
“Much of our work relies on accurate and consistent data from the US Census and American Community Survey,” Mr. Turner wrote in his letter.
Pursuing accurate data is essential for municipalities across the country to address problems and improve the quality of life, Mr. Turner added.
“We strongly urge the Census Bureau to continue counting every resident regardless of immigration status, maintain the critical collection of race and other demographic data, and allow the enumeration period to encompass where people spend most of their time,” Mr. Turner ended his letter.