Sponsors
The bill increases decennial census participation and yields fairer population-based representation and funding for communities, but it does so by removing directly comparable citizenship data from the census, shifting costs, delay, and some enforcement/data-accuracy trade-offs to other surveys and stakeholders.
Immigrants and communities: exempting citizenship questions from the decennial census reduces fear of responding, raising participation and producing more accurate population counts that support fairer congressional apportionment and federal funding for states and localities.
Researchers, policymakers, and some federal programs: will face higher costs, slower access, and less timely citizenship/immigration data because those questions are confined to the American Community Survey rather than collected in the decennial census.
State and local governments: reduced availability of directly comparable citizenship counts from the decennial census could complicate enforcement and policymaking around voting, representation, and other citizenship-dependent policies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits citizenship, nationality, or immigration status questions on decennial census questionnaires and related surveys, while exempting the American Community Survey.
Introduced March 24, 2026 by Eleanor Holmes Norton · Last progress March 24, 2026
Prohibits asking about citizenship, nationality, or immigration status on any questionnaire or survey used to carry out or in connection with the decennial population census. The prohibition covers questions about the respondent, household members, or other residents, but it explicitly exempts the American Community Survey conducted by the Census Bureau.