美国国家公共电台 NPR How The 2020 Census Citizenship Question Ended Up In Court

How The 2020 Census¹ Citizenship² Question Ended Up In Court

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A trial begins today that may determine whether a controversial new question will stay on the 2020 census. The question is as follows. Quote, "is this person a citizen of the United States?" Six lawsuits⁴ have been filed in an effort to get the question removed, and the first trial starts today in New York City. No matter which side wins, the issue will likely reach the U.S. Supreme⁵ Court. NPR national correspondent Hansi Lo Wang has been covering these lawsuits, and I spoke⁶ with him earlier.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE⁷: Good morning, Rachel.

MARTIN: All right, first off, there will be people out there who say, wait; isn't the entire point of the U.S. census to count the number of U.S. citizens? So can you explain that and why this particular question is such a big deal?

WANG: The census is a head count of both U.S. citizens and non-citizens. You know, who is counted is not based on citizenship status. It's based on who is living in the country.

MARTIN: Just people, anyone.

WANG: Exactly, anyone who is considered to be living in the country. And so asking about citizenship status - that is a sensitive question for a lot of people. And the concern here is that it will lead to a bad count, inaccurate⁸ information being collected. And that's backed up by research from the Census Bureau that shows that a lot of people are scared of this question, that some people think that this question - the real purpose of it they think is for the government to locate undocumented immigrants. And that's going to make the Census Bureau's job very, very hard. They need to count everyone once and where they live. And, you know, it's not just their job. It's a constitutional requirement.

MARTIN: And so the concern - just to draw that out - is that people wouldn't report. They would be afraid that they would be deported⁹ as a result, and so the census would be off.

WANG: That's the concern, that sending out census workers to follow up with those households will not be enough to make sure that we have an accurate count and accurate information in 2020.

MARTIN: So what do we know about the reasons that this question was added? Was it about trying to figure out who is in this country illegally?

WANG: That's one of the main questions in this lawsuit³. In March, when they announced this question, they said it was for the Voting Rights Act - better enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The Justice Department, they said, needs more detailed¹⁰ citizenship data to better enforce protections against racial discrimination.

But just last night, I saw a court filing of testimony¹¹ from the head of the Civil Rights Division, John Gore¹². He's testified that this question is not necessary. We also know that there was an alternative to adding a question that the Census Bureau said would provide more accurate data, would cost less money. But the Trump¹³ administration wanted to avoid that alternative, and they ultimately decided¹⁴ to push this question onto the census.

MARTIN: So this has triggered all kinds of lawsuits, the first starting today. What is the argument against this? I mean, what are groups really concerned about here?

WANG: They're really concerned that if you have a inaccurate count, you have inaccurate information, that's going to have profound implications across the country over the next decade. The census is only taken once every 10 years, and these numbers directly impact how many congressional seats, electoral college votes each state gets. An estimated $800 billion a year in federal tax dollars is also on the line. And that money goes directly to fund local schools, relief for hurricanes and wildfires and fixing your local roads.

MARTIN: And I imagine there's some urgency here because it takes a lot of money and time to put together a census.

WANG: Exactly. This trial is only expected to last 10 days. But we're not sure exactly when the judge will issue his ruling in this case in New York. There are two other cases in California, two other cases in Maryland. Ultimately, all these rulings are going to be appealed to the Supreme Court, and it's unclear exactly when the Supreme Court will rule. They have until June, but forms for the census are scheduled to be printed starting in May.

MARTIN: All right, NPR's Hansi Lo Wang, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

WANG: You're welcome.

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

3 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

4 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

9 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

11 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

12 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。