August 7 was the last day for the public to comment on the census citizenship question. All told, nearly 11,000 People For the American Way members were among more than 250,000 individuals and organizations who urged the Commerce Department to reverse course and remove the proposed question from the 2020 form.

In response to this overwhelming groundswell of opposition, PFAW Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:

It’s critical that the census provide an accurate picture of every community in our country. Adding an untested, politically motivated question about citizenship dangerously undermines that goal. Adding this question to the census won’t help anyone learn more about the makeup of our country, but it will make more people nervous about participating in the census. That may be good news for political activists who want to dilute the power of communities of color, but it’s very bad news for our country as a whole and for anyone who cares about our democracy.

Click here to learn more about PFAW’s opposition to the census citizenship question.