美国国家公共电台 NPR Citizenship Question Controversy Complicating Census 2020 Work, Bureau Director Says

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

The head of the U.S. Census¹ Bureau is preparing to face a major challenge. His agency is required by law to count every person living in the U.S. in 2020. But the bureau is running into many hurdles², including a legal fight over a new citizenship³ question. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang sat down with the bureau's acting⁴ director for his first news interview since stepping into the role a year ago.

HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE⁵: Ron Jarmin leads more than 4,000 employees from the Census Bureau's sprawling⁶ headquarters. But these days, he's focusing more on the millions of people outside the bureau's glass walls, all the people the Constitution says the government must tally⁷ up every 10 years.

RON JARMIN: Who is supposed to be counted? All residents are supposed to be counted.

WANG: And when you say all residents, does citizenship status matter? Does immigration status matter?

JARMIN: It does not.

WANG: It's a responsibility, Jarmin says, that the bureau takes seriously because the power of these numbers last for a decade.

JARMIN: Whether it's funding for streets or for schools or for health care, decisions throughout the federal government are made based on the population of the local communities that people live in.

WANG: Not to mention how many seats in Congress and Electoral College votes each state gets and how legislative⁸ districts are drawn⁹. And there's been growing concern that the 2020 count will not be accurate. More than two dozen states and cities are pointing to a new question asking whether a person is a citizen of the U.S. That has led to so far six lawsuits¹⁰ filed against the bureau.

JARMIN: Controversy¹¹ about the content of the census does complicate¹² our messaging. We need to get responses from everybody whether they like the question or they don't like the question.

WANG: The citizenship question was added by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees¹³ the bureau. Ross has said the Justice Department needs responses from it to better enforce the Voting Rights Act. But Jarmin and other researchers at the Census Bureau warned Ross that adding a question could discourage noncitizens, and that could put the accuracy of the next head count in jeopardy¹⁴. While the federal courts sort out the question's fate, Jarmin says his agency is moving forward with plans to ask about citizenship status in 2020.

JARMIN: The longer we go without knowing exactly what's going to be on there, that could be a risk.

WANG: The risk of giving personal information to the government is weighing on the minds of many noncitizens at a time of increased immigration enforcement under the Trump¹⁵ administration.

JARMIN: We want to make sure that people know that it's safe and secure to answer the census and that it's important that they answer the census.

WANG: Federal law prohibits the Census Bureau from releasing any information that would identify individuals, but the bureau can release anonymized information about specific demographic groups living in specific neighborhoods. And that, says Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of the House Oversight¹⁶ Subcommittee for the census, does raise concerns about trusting the government to not use that information against people.

TERRI ANN LOWENTHAL: The Census Bureau can tell people till it's blue in the face that the law provides the strictest protection for the confidentiality¹⁷ of census information. But people are only going to be convinced if community leaders carry the message.

WANG: Ron Jarmin says he's hoping more local leaders step up in time to rally interest in the upcoming census and to share accurate information about the head count that's taking place at the same time as the 2020 presidential race. Jarmin says the bureau is planning to keep a close eye on social media.

Are you worried that there could be a tweet from President Trump that doesn't match the bureau's messaging about the 2020 census?

JARMIN: I'm not too concerned about a tweet from the president in that regards, but I'm concerned about tweets from anybody that somehow, if it gets enough traction¹⁸ - that is giving the public bad information about the census.

JARMIN: Amidst all this uncertainty¹⁹ with the 2020 census, there's another question. Ron Jarmin is the acting director of the Census Bureau. And he says there's no word from the White House about when he might be replaced. Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MADE IN HEIGHTS' "AMARANTHINE")

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 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

3 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。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 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。

6 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

7 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

8 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 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

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

13 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

14 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

15 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。

16 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

17 confidentiality   

n.秘而不宣，保密

参考例句：

• They signed a confidentiality agreement. 他们签署了一份保守机密的协议。
• Cryptography is the foundation of supporting authentication, integrality and confidentiality. 而密码学是支持认证、完整性和机密性机制的基础。

18 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

19 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。