Pollster Lee Miringoff said in an interview that aired Tuesday on Hill.TV that the debate over adding a question to the U.S. Census on citizenship should include the context of how to handle refugees in the U.S.
“You do legitimately have to take this question in the context of the whole refugee deportation thing that’s going on,” Miringoff told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on “What America’s Thinking” on Monday.
“We do have numbers of people who are citizens and not,” he continued.
A new Hill-HarrisX poll, released on Tuesday, found that 60 percent of registered voters said the U.S. Census Bureau should ask the citizenship question.
The Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, argues it has the right to ask questions and collect data on citizenship.
The department also says the citizenship numbers are needed to assist with the Justice Department’s enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
Census data is used to determine federal funding for states and municipalities, as well as a state’s congressional representation.
— Julia Manchester
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