2020 Census Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

6-Month Delay In Census Redistricting Data Could Complicate 2022 Mid-Term Elections

By NPR News February 13, 2021

A census supporter holds up a sign during a 2020 rally in New York City. CREDIT: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden/Sipa USA via Reuters

Dogged by the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration's interference with the census schedule, the latest expected release date — six months past the March 31 legal deadline — could throw upcoming elections into chaos in states facing tight redistricting deadlines for Congress, as well as state and local offices.Read More

Census Numbers For Dividing Up U.S. House Seats Delayed Until April 30, Bureau Says

By NPR News January 27, 2021

A U.S. census worker sits in the plaza of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City in September. The Census Bureau announced Wednesday that the first results of the 2020 census are expected to be released by April 30. CREDIT: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and last-minute changes by the Trump administration, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Wednesday that the release of the first results of the 2020 census will likely be delayed by four months. The latest state population counts used to determine each state's share of votes in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College for Read More

‘Take The Politics Out Of The Census,’ Commerce Department Nominee Gina Raimondo Says

By NPR News January 26, 2021

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo appears through video conferencing Tuesday during a Senate hearing for her nomination as the secretary for the Commerce Department, which oversees the U.S. Census Bureau. Jonathan Ernst/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Biden's nominee for overseeing the U.S. Census Bureau, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, said she intends to depoliticize the 2020 census and listen to experts at a federal agency that had been caught in a partisan firestorm during the Trump administration.Read More

Census Director To Quit After Trying To Rush Out ‘Indefensible’ Report

By NPR News January 18, 2021

Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham, a Trump appointee who wore a "2020 Census" mask while swearing in to testify before a congressional hearing last year, is set to leave on Jan. 20, months before his term ends on Dec. 31. Andrew Harnik/AP

The Trump-appointed director of the U.S. Census Bureau is stepping down close to a week after whistleblower complaints about his role in attempting to rush out an incomplete data report about noncitizens became public.Read More

Census Bureau Stops Work On Trump’s Request For Unauthorized Immigrant Count

By NPR News January 13, 2021

A demonstrator holds a sign about the U.S. census outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in 2019. The Census Bureau has stopped all work on President Trump's directive to produce a count of unauthorized immigrants that could be subtracted from a key set of census numbers, NPR has learned. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The U.S. Census Bureau has halted all work on President Trump's directive to produce a state-by-state count of unauthorized immigrants that would have been used to alter a key set of census numbers, NPR has learned.Read More

Census Bureau To Miss Year-End Deadline For Delivering Numbers For U.S. House Seats

By NPR News December 31, 2020

Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham holds up his mask with the words "2020 Census" as he testifies before a House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing on the census in July. CREDIT: Andrew Harnik/AP

Saddled with delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic and last-minute changes by the Trump administration, the first set of 2020 census results will not be ready for release by Thursday's year-end deadline for numbers that determine representation in Congress and the Electoral College for the next decade.Read More

Millions Of Census Records May Be Flawed, Jeopardizing Trump’s Bid To Alter Count

By NPR News December 5, 2020

The number of 2020 census records requiring quality checks because of irregularities has ballooned into the millions. That may stop Trump from getting control of a key count before leaving office.Read More

Supreme Court Weighs President’s Plan To Cut Undocumented Immigrants From Census Count

By NPR News November 30, 2020

FILE - This May 4, 2020, file photo shows the Supreme Court building in Washington. Controversial Trump administration policies on the census, asylum seekers and the border wall, held illegal by lower courts, are on the Supreme Court's agenda Friday, Oct. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Justices expressed doubts about a plan to cut undocumented immigrants from a key census count — one that would exclude them for purposes of drawing new congressional districts.Read More

Supreme Court Speeds Up Case On President Trump’s Push To Alter Census For House Seats

By NPR News October 16, 2020

U.S. Census Bureau worker Marisela Gonzales adjusts a sign at a walk-up counting site for the 2020 census in Greenville, Texas, in July. CREDIT: LM Otero/AP

The justices will hear oral arguments Nov. 30, increasing the potential for Trump to try to omit unauthorized immigrants from the census numbers used to reallocate House seats during his current term.Read More

Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To End Census Early

By NPR News October 13, 2020

Protesters holding signs about the 2020 census gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in 2019. CREDIT: Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Trump administration asked, and the Supreme Court allowed, for a suspension to a lower court order that extends the census schedule. The move sharpens the threat of an incomplete count.Read More

Appeals Court Denies Another Attempt By Trump Administration Officials To End Census Early

By NPR News October 7, 2020

U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham departs a news conference about the 2020 census last month in Phoenix. Ross D. CREDIT: Franklin/Pool/AP

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected another push to suspend a court order that extends census counting through Oct. 31. The legal fight is likely to go to the Supreme Court next. Read More

Court Orders Census Counting To Continue Through Oct. 31; Trump Administration Appeal Expected

By NPR News September 25, 2020

A sign promoting participation in the 2020 census is displayed as Selena Rides Horse enters information into a phone for a member of the Crow Indian Tribe in Lodge Grass, Mont., in August. Matthew Brown/AP

After the Trump administration made last-minute changes that shortened the 2020 census schedule, a federal judge in California has ordered it to extend counting for another month. Read More

Census Work Has Been Winding Down, But A Judge Says It Needs To Press On For Now

By NPR News September 5, 2020

A volunteer in Los Angeles holds a computer tablet displaying the online questionnaire for the 2020 census in August. CREDIT: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A federal judge in California has ordered the Trump administration to temporarily stop wrapping up in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, as civil rights groups push for more time.Read More

Running Out Of Time, Census Scales Back A Critical Step: Checking Its Own Work

By NPR News August 31, 2020

With just three months to review the 2020 census results because of a last-minute change by the Trump administration, Census Bureau officials are scrambling to decide what quality checks to toss out.Read More

Census Canvassers Fan Out In The Inland Northwest Ahead Of September Deadline

By Doug Nadvornick August 11, 2020

About 3,000 census "enumerators" began knocking on doors recently in eastern Washington. CREDIT: U.S. Census Bureau

Canvassers have been out in North Idaho the past few weeks. They will be working between now and the end of September to follow up with people who haven’t filled out census forms.Read More

President Trump Sued For Attempt To Omit Unauthorized Immigrants From A Key Census Count

By NPR News July 24, 2020

Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2019 to protest against the Trump administration's efforts to add the now-blocked citizenship question to the 2020 census. CREDIT: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The Constitution says the count used to divide up seats in Congress must include every person living in the U.S. President Trump is calling for unauthorized immigrants to be left out. Read More

Yes, There’s Still A 2020 Census. Pandemic Necessitates Creativity In State Promotion

By Tom Banse April 1, 2020

You can spare a census taker from having to go door-to-door later by answering the 2020 census online or by phone right now.

A near real time map of 2020 census self-response rates shows that 42% of Washington state and Idaho households at known addresses have completed the census as of April 1. The rate is 40.5% for Oregon, compared to the national average of 38% to date.Read More

10 Census Facts That Bust Common Myths About The 2020 U.S. Head Count

By NPR News March 5, 2020

Demonstrators rally in Washington, D.C., in April 2019 against the now-blocked citizenship question that the Trump administration tried and failed to get on the 2020 census forms. CREDIT: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

It happens only once a decade, so it can be hard to make sense of the census. NPR's census reporter has rounded up facts that debunk some of the most common misconceptions about the national count.Read More

Watchdog Warns Census Faces Cybersecurity, Hiring Risks Before National Rollout

By NPR News February 12, 2020

Weeks before the census is fully underway, the Government Accountability Office finds the Census Bureau is behind on recruiting workers and resolving risks with the first primarily online U.S. count.Read More

Lawmakers, Advocates Worry Bureau Won’t Fill Half Million 2020 Census Jobs

By NPR News February 11, 2020

People inquire about temporary positions available for the 2020 census during a job fair in Miami in September 2019. CREDIT: Lynne Sladky/AP

The bureau says it needs around a half-million temporary workers by this spring to carry out the national head count. Some census advocates are worried the agency isn't moving fast enough on hiring.Read More

To Produce Citizenship Data, U.S. Homeland Security To Share Records With Census Bureau

By NPR News January 6, 2020

A newly sworn-in U.S. citizen holds the U.S. flag and paperwork during a 2018 naturalization ceremony in New York City. The Department of Homeland Security has agreed to share its records with the U.S. Census Bureau to help produce data about the U.S. citizenship status of every person living in the country, as ordered by President Trump. CREDIT: Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security has finalized an agreement to share records that the Census Bureau says will help it produce data about the citizenship status of every person living in the U.S.Read More

U.S. Population Growth In 2019 Is Slowest In A Century

By NPR News January 4, 2020

Traffic clogs Highway 101 as people leave work in Los Angeles on Aug. 29, 2014. CREDIT: Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

Falling birth rates and rising death rates, combined with a significant drop in immigration, have slowed U.S. population growth to its lowest level since 1918.Read More

2020 Census Kicks Into High Gear Next Month With State Taxpayer Assist

By Tom Banse December 26, 2019

This coming spring, U.S. Census workers will follow up with households that do not respond to questionnaire mailings.

The once-every-ten-years census count of everyone living in the United States starts next month, beginning with remote villages in Alaska. West Coast states are spending local tax dollars to boost the response when their turn comes beginning in March.Read More

Email Trail On Citizenship Question Is Longer Than Trump Administration Officials Said

By NPR News November 27, 2019

President Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr announce the Trump administration's decision to back down from its push for a citizenship question in the White House Rose Garden in July. CREDIT: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Justice Department told a court it has realized there are more internal documents that it inadvertently failed to disclose before lawsuits over the now-blocked census citizenship question ended.Read More

U.S. Census Bureau Asks States For Driver’s License Records To Produce Citizenship Data

By NPR News October 16, 2019

The Census Bureau is turning to existing government records, such as state driver's licenses, to try to fill in gaps in the incomplete responses it collects from its survey. George Frey/Getty Images

The Census Bureau is gathering records on people's U.S. citizenship status as part of Trump administration efforts to produce data that a GOP strategist said could politically benefit Republicans.Read More

15 States Say Unauthorized Immigrants Should Continue To Count For Seats In Congress

By NPR News September 8, 2019

New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a June news conference in New York City. James' office is now leading a coalition of states and other groups in defending the Census Bureau's long-standing policy of including unauthorized immigrants in population counts used for reapportioning seats in Congress. Mark Lennihan/AP

A judge is allowing New York and others to intervene in Alabama's lawsuit challenging the long-standing inclusion of unauthorized immigrants in census numbers used to divide up seats in Congress.Read More

North Carolina Gerrymandering Trial Could Serve As Blueprint For Other States

By NPR News July 15, 2019

Protesters against gerrymandering at a March 2019 rally coinciding with Supreme Court hearings on major redistricting cases. After the court said the federal judiciary has no role in partisan redistricting cases, legal action is focused on state courts. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The case has the potential to significantly alter how political maps are established in North Carolina while serving as a blueprint for legal challenges in other states.Read More

Judge To Review Claims Of Census Citizenship Question’s ‘Discriminatory’ Origins

By NPR News July 6, 2019

Demonstrators against a proposal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in April. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

While the Justice Department continues exploring possible ways to add a question about citizenship to the census forms, a federal judge in Maryland is moving ahead with reopening two cases against it.Read More

How The Fight Over Census Citizenship Question Could Rage On Well Past SCOTUS Decision

By NPR News July 2, 2019

Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in April to protest the Trump administration's plan to add a citizenship question to forms for the 2020 census. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump threatened to delay next year's constitutionally mandated head count hours after the Supreme Court ruled to keep a citizenship question off 2020 census forms for now. Read More

Supreme Court Leaves Citizenship Question Blocked For Now From 2020 Census

By NPR News June 27, 2019

Demonstrators rally outside the Supreme Court in April as the justices hear arguments over the Trump administration's plan to add a citizenship question to 2020 census forms. J. Scott Applewhite/AP

n a defeat for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court leaves the citizenship question blocked for now from the 2020 census, in part because of the government's explanation for why it added it in the first place.Read More

Emails Connect Census Official With GOP Strategist On Citizenship Question

By NPR News June 15, 2019

A Census Bureau official privately discussed the citizenship question issue with Thomas Hofeller, who plaintiffs in census lawsuits argue drove the Trump administration's push for the question.Read More

Kris Kobach Discussed Census Citizenship Question With 2016 Trump Campaign

By NPR News June 7, 2019

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is greeted by President Trump in 2016 at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach told House investigators he discussed the question with campaign officials more than a year before the Trump administration formally requested it.Read More

Trump Administration’s Census Citizenship Question Plans Halted By Third Judge

By NPR News April 5, 2019

Plans to use the 2020 census to ask about U.S. citizenship status suffered another major blow. A ruling in Maryland joins earlier rulings in New York and California blocking the citizenship question.Read More

Judge Orders Federal Government To Remove 2020 Census Citizenship Question; Appeal Expected

By NPR News January 15, 2019

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, approved adding a question about U.S. citizenship status to the 2020 census. CREDIT: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A federal judge in New York has issued the first ruling out of multiple lawsuits over a question about U.S. citizenship status. The ruling is expected to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.Read More

Citizenship Question May Be ‘Major Barrier’ To 2020 Census Participation

By NPR News November 1, 2018

Newly sworn-in U.S. citizens gather for a naturalization ceremony at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, Va., in August. The Trump administration is planning to include a question about U.S. citizenship status on the 2020 census. Claire Harbage/NPR

In focus groups for the U.S. census, some participants identified the citizenship question as a significant reason why they would avoid taking part in the head count. Read More

The Wait To Become A U.S. Citizen Lengthens

By NPR News September 3, 2018

Immigrant advocates claim the Trump administration is building a "second wall" to keep immigrants out of this country. That wall is the lengthy and time-consuming process to become a U.S. citizen.Read More

Oregon Joins Suit To Block Immigration Inquiries On 2020 Census

By NWPB News April 3, 2018

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum says a move to include a question about citizenship on the 2020 census could wreak financial havoc on Oregon. Rosenblum joined officials from 16 other states in filing a lawsuit to block what they call an “unconstitutional and arbitrary decision."Read More

2020 Census Will Ask About Same-Sex Relationships

By NPR News March 31, 2018

Unlike past census forms, the questionnaire for 2020 will include response categories for the relationship question that make a distinction between same-sex and different-sex couples.Read More