March 29, 2018

Trump’s Plan to Rig the Census, Explained

This video lays out the incredibly high stakes for the 2020 census.

Budget cuts. Major cybersecurity risks. No permanent leadership. And now a question about US citizenship that could massively depress responses from immigrants. The 2020 census is facing a perfect storm of problems.

The last census, in 2010, failed to count 1.5 million people of color, while overcounting white Americans. That undercount of minorities and immigrants could get much worse under President Donald Trump and shift economic and political power to whiter and more Republican areas.

The addition of the citizenship question on Monday night sparked an immediately outcry from Democratic state officials and civil rights groups. California became the first state to sue the Trump administration over the question, and at least 12 states have pledged to follow suit. The NAACP also filed suit on Wednesday.

The stakes for democracy could not be higher. As I explain in this video, “If Republicans rig the census, there are no do-overs.” Give it a watch, and then read my big feature story on the census, “Hidden Figures: How Donald Trump Is Rigging the Census,” which will appear in the next issue of the magazine.

Video produced by Mark Helenowski and James West

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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