Civil Rights Coalition Denounces the Termination of Census Advisory Committees and the Inevitable Harm to 2030 Census Planning
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Rachel Hooper hooper@civilrights.org
WASHINGTON — Meeta Anand, senior director of the census and data equity program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, joined by The Leadership Conference Census Task Force Co-Chairs Terry Ao Minnis of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC and Arturo Vargas of NALEO Educational Fund, issued the following statement on the recent decision by the Department of Commerce to terminate Census Advisory Committees:
“Our coalition is extremely disappointed by the recent decision by the Department of Commerce to terminate the Census Bureau’s three advisory committees: the 2030 Census Advisory Committee; the Census Scientific Advisory Committee; and the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations. These advisory committees' expert recommendations enable the Census Bureau to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its data collection operations in service of the fair and accurate count that all communities deserve. We strongly disagree with the Commerce Department’s stated rationale that the purposes of these advisory committees have been fulfilled.
“For decades, and with longstanding bipartisan support, the Census Bureau has relied on advisory committees to receive input from experts from diverse fields of practice and communities. Advisory committees help the Census Bureau to more effectively engage all communities, particularly those persistently underrepresented in census data, around the importance of census participation. Eliminating the advisory committees will undermine the Census Bureau’s ability to achieve its mission of providing accurate, high-quality data about our nation’s people and economy.
“2025 marks the halfway point to the taking of the 2030 Census. Terminating the advisory committees will deprive the Census Bureau of expert input at a critical phase in planning for the 2030 Census, potentially jeopardizing the quality of census data for years to come. Accurate census data are critical to ensuring that our communities receive their fair share of federal resources, including funding for critical infrastructure and services like health care and education. Census data are also necessary to ensure equal political representation and to uphold the civil rights of everyone residing in the United States.
“As it plans for the 2030 Census, the Census Bureau must seek other ways to continue soliciting input from diverse subject matter experts to ensure that it can accurately count all people residing in the United States, as mandated by the Constitution. We call on Congress, the Commerce Department, and the president to ensure that the Census Bureau is able to fulfill its critical mission of providing accurate and high quality data about the nation’s population.”
“A fair and accurate census is foundational to our democracy. We rely on the Census Bureau to provide data that underpin our representation, resource allocation, policymaking decisions, and civil rights enforcement. By jettisoning the valuable information, expertise, and on-the-ground knowledge provided by the advisory committees, the Secretary of Commerce is jeopardizing the Census Bureau’s ability to count all people in the United States. This will lead to distorted data and skewed outcomes affecting everything from resources for schools to the drawing of congressional districts. We decry this decision as the input of these committee members is necessary to help remedy historic and persistent undercounts, as well as rural and digital divides, and ensure that all communities are reflected in our public data,” said Meeta Anand, senior director of the census and data equity program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
“We vehemently disagree with the Secretary of Commerce’s conclusion that the Census Bureau’s advisory committees have fulfilled their purposes and should be eliminated. This move, at such a critical time for the Bureau’s planning, is a major setback ahead of the upcoming census in just five years. Choosing to do away with the advisory committees is a willful inefficiency that denies the Bureau expert public input on its operations, strategies, and mission. It will also undermine public trust in the safety and confidentiality of participating in census surveys. We hope the Bureau evaluates the ramifications of this and urgently seeks other avenues to secure reliable and constructive public input ahead of the 2030 Census,” said Arturo Vargas, CEO of NALEO Educational Fund and chair of the 2030 Census Advisory Committee.
“We are deeply disappointed in the decision to remove the Census Bureau’s advisory committees, which have provided critical input to the Bureau for decades on how communities that are harder to count, such as Asian Americans, can be fully counted in the decennial census. The committees have provided critical guidance on how to safely and accurately collect information about the population, including providing policy, communications, and community input throughout the process. These committees have been instrumental in helping the public feel empowered to participate in the Census. Eliminating them halts the input from stakeholders from varied disciplines on the research, innovations and strategies at a critical moment in the decade when important decisions will be made on how the 2030 Census is taken. We disagree with the Department of Commerce’s reasoning that the advisory committees have served their purpose — in fact, we know that there is still more work to be done to ensure a fair and accurate census,” said Terry Ao Minnis, vice president of census and voting programs at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC and 2030 Census Advisory Committee member.
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