Professor Silvia Pedraza quoted in the Folha de S.Paulo!
"The simple question has the power to generate inflamed reactions: Are you an American citizen? That's what the 2020 Census wants to know. In Donald Trump's USA, those words do not sound innocuous. As in Brazil, the Census foreseen in the American Constitution is realized every decade since 1790. The objective is to estimate the population. The data is used to define the representativeness of each district in the Chamber. Therefore, the questionnaire is not only applied to citizens. Districts with larger populations receive more seats and more federal resources. This is what concerns minority advocacy organizations who are wary of the government's justification for including the question of securing everyone's right to vote. For activists, the question will chase away illegal immigrants or even naturalized American citizens with relatives without permission to remain in the United States.
"We live in a climate of great hostility to Latinos, blacks, illegal immigrants," says Silvia Pedraza, a professor of sociology and culture at the University of Michigan." (Brant, Danielle. "Question about citizenship in the US Census can redefine Congress." Folha de S.Paulo. September 15, 2018.)
