We’ve been telling you about efforts by the Trump Administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census – you can read earlier posts about this issue here and here.

Together with a broad and diverse coalition of groups, we asked our supporters to submit comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce in opposition to the citizenship question, which experts say would significantly result in an undercount, especially among people of color communities and families with low-income children. The deadline for comments was last night, and the goal was to have 100,000 comments submitted.

We asked. You responded. You said that every person counts, and you demanded that every person be counted.

We’re happy to report that the goal was met and then some. By midnight Tuesday, Aug. 7, more than 250,000 comments were turned in.

We’d like to thank our friends at the Leadership Conference Education Fund and the diverse coalition of groups that came together for their vital leadership on this issue. This is their statement:

Groundswell of Opposition Tells Commerce Department to Scrap the Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

WASHINGTON – More than 250,000 individuals and organizations urged the Commerce Department to remove the citizenship question from the 2020 Census, citing the threat to census accuracy in all communities that will undermine the fair allocation of political representation, public resources, and private investment for the next decade. The organizations represent millions of people from every state and the District of Columbia, as well as diverse urban and rural communities.

Census stakeholders from a broad range of sectors and geographic areas voiced their concerns about the proposed addition of a new, untested citizenship question as part of a 60-day public comment period before the Census Bureau (an agency of the Commerce Department) finalizes major 2020 Census operations and questionnaire content. Under the public comment process, the Commerce Department must consider and respond (at least in summary terms) to the submissions prior to seeking clearance from the Office of Management and Budget for the 2020 Census plan and questionnaire.

You can read the rest of their statement here.