🔰Rep. Ocasio-Cortez's Question Line at Hearing with Census Bureau Director

Thank you. Mr. Chair, I would be remiss if we didn't remind the committee overall that this is not our first census hearing, but we have been at this work for quite some time. Yet if it is a given member's first time showing up to a census hearing, I welcome them. The Trump administration spent more than two years trying to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which one Republican operative and gerrymandering expert said would be a quote, advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites. Last year in July, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the attempt to add the question was unlawful and that the reason given to Congress and the American people was quote, contrived and quote, incongruent with what the record reveals. Yet I fear that the damage has already been done. A study of Latino attitudes towards the census by NALEO found that 83% of undocumented persons and 74% of citizens worry that the Trump administration will use census information against immigrants. So Mr. Dillingham, I want to get a few straight answers right now. I hope that they're relatively straightforward and would appreciate it if you could answer these with a simple yes or no. The first, the 2020 census will not ask about citizenship or immigration status, correct? That's absolutely, yes. Thank you. The census data will not be used in immigration enforcement, correct? Yes. Thank you. The census data will not be released to the Department of Homeland Security, correct? Yes. And as we know, releasing census data to DHS would be a crime punishable by five years, up to five years in prison or $250,000, correct? Yes. And can you pledge today that immigrants can trust the Census Bureau to keep their data confidential so that they can participate in the census without fear? If I understood your question, it was whether or not I could convince or share with- That you can pledge today. Pledge today. Absolutely, Congresswoman. And I would like every member of this committee and every member of Congress and every elected leader, every appointed leader, and every leader in every community to communicate that same message. It is apolitical, the census. It is bipartisan, and we need everyone's support. Thank you, and I appreciate you saying that. However, we do know that that message is not quite getting out to the country. Arturo Vargas, the CEO of Naleo, testified before the committee on January 9th. He said, quote, many Latinos are resistant to participate in the census because they believe after years of coverage that there will be a question on the form despite its absence. And Vargas also continued to say that the Census Bureau, we have observed that the Bureau has been instructed not to discuss that question, the citizenship question. Is that correct? That is not correct to the best of my knowledge. Okay, great. He- As a matter of fact, I discuss it. Other people discuss it. Whenever it comes up, we have total freedom to discuss it. Okay, great. So, it's your testimony that the Bureau has- and employees of the Bureau have not been instructed. Have- it's- so, you're testifying that that is not true, that- I am not aware of anyone being instructed not- now, if- Not to discuss the citizenship question. Not to discuss. I- now, let me just say this. This is a possibility, and I don't know of any factual basis for that. We do- our research indicates that we promote the benefits of the census, and so, we don't go back and repeat something that may be perceived as being negative. We talk about the positives. I see. So, is the- but I think the question here, to dig a little deeper, will the Bureau advise the public clearly and decisively, specifically, that there is no citizenship question on the census? Well, it's certainly been the case whenever I've been asked, or anyone with the Census Bureau has been asked. That is an absolutely accurate answer that we give, that it is not on there. In our advertising- now, I cannot speak to the methodology of the NALAO research, and I am generally aware of some of the publicity with it, and they are our partner, and we support them and what they're doing with the Latino community and others. But we do our research with a very broad scientific survey of 50,000. Focus groups of more than 120. We found that people were more interested in knowing the benefits, and so, that's what we emphasize. Thank you. And just with my last question, to clarify, if someone knocks on my door in the Bronx, how can a person confirm that this person is, in fact, from the census? Congressman, we've been to your district in the Bronx. We didn't meet with you on the particular occasion, but we drove through and by Queens College, et cetera, in that area, and we saw some of the apartment housing, et cetera, and some of the public housing or authority-controlled housing, and we understand how important it is that they recognize when this is an official census person coming. So, we will have indicia, we will publicize it, we will have badges, the case we cover will have the U.S. Census Bureau on it, and so, we have those ways, and we will also communicate with whoever is in charge of that complex, et cetera, that this is why we're here, and this is what we're doing, and we have found that when we do that, when we enter, for example, I was told by our partnership specialist, when we enter a hall, word goes down through that hall immediately in that complex that, oh, these people are here, and this is what they're doing. So, we will work with those communities in every way we can to make sure they know that we have a legitimate purpose, and it is a purpose that we hope that they will support and has benefit to them, and I want to thank you also for working with some of the outstanding leadership in the state of New York that everyone knows in promoting the value of the census. Thank you very much.