Last evening I was at a dinner and someone bought up how despicable it was to ask people if they were citizens on the census. I asked why, and they bought up underrepresentation and large non citizen areas recieving less federal funding. I could not understand why representatives and electoral college vote should be higher due to non citizens. His solution was to speak louder, practically yelling at me like I was a moron.
So can someone explain this without yelling at me why this question is bad. In my Geneology research this question has routinely been asked until very recently. It provides an excellent snapshot of a population. Why should a large non citizen population get more funding and more representation in our government?
I am not anti immigration. I do not believe someone who sneaks in should be ahead of someone who legally files paperwork and patiently waits in line. With 65 million refugees waiting in camps, people who show up at the border seeking asylum, I think every country has a responsibility to help some of these unfortunate beings. But we cannot help everyone. Let’s help as many as we can but do it legally and right. But my question is really about the census.