“We will not be intimidated by the ploys of right-wing politicians.”
In response to the Supreme Court’s determination that the Trump administration had not provided sufficient justification for its attempt to add the controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census, Zahra Billoo, Executive Director of the San Francisco office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA) said:
“We applaud the Supreme Court for identifying this attempt at undermining an accurate count of every person living in the United States without intimidation for what it was, without basis. In a climate of anti-immigrant, xenophobic rhetoric and policy, a citizenship question is not only untested, it is dangerous. In truth, the Trump administration’s proposed citizenship question would have only served to intimidate immigrant communities.
“When hate crimes are on the rise and our communities are destabilized by violence both here and abroad, a citizenship question is a loaded question. Without it, the census can more accurately determine how federal funding is allocated as well as the fate of our communities for the next 10 years.
“Today’s decision is a step in the right direction — and while we are hopeful it will block a citizenship question on the 2020 census, we will need to advocate further to prevent it from being included on any future census as well. The census must count every person to ensure marginalized communities are not losing even more of the resources and representation they deserve. We cannot and will not be intimidated by the ploys of right-wing politicians. Anything less would be a stain on our democratic values.”