Businesses Warn Trump: Census Question Could Be Costly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A number of US companies have told the Trump administration that a question about citizenship in the 2020 census would be detrimental to businesses if it resulted in an underestimation of the number of people. Immigrants, thereby undermining the data used to store stores, plan inventory and map campaigns.

Business leaders, lobbyists and representatives of major industry groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation and the International Council of Shopping Centers raised the issue in meetings with government officials , according to more than a dozen sources close to the record. Some meetings date back to 2017, when the administration was considering adding the question.

Industry officials continue to ask the Census Bureau and the Department of Commerce for confidence that the impact of the question on the quality of census data will be minimized, according to sources, who described the meetings under cover. anonymity.

The pressure reflects the economic importance of the decennial count of the inhabitants of America.

The census serves to attract voting districts and divide some $ 800 billion into federal programs. For companies, it provides the most detailed picture possible on the consumer and labor markets. According to the administration's proposal, the census would ask if respondents are citizens of the United States for the first time in 70 years.

Corporate America finds itself in an unlikely alliance with immigrant advocacy groups who have taken legal action to silence the issue under the pretext that it could deter immigrants from participating and, therefore, cost money. money to their community and their political representation. The Supreme Court plans to hear arguments on the case next week.

Apparel manufacturers Levi Strauss & Co, transportation companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc, as well as the media group Univision Communications Inc. are among the few companies that support this lawsuit. In court documents, they said that the question of citizenship "threatened to undermine the reliability of the census data and thus significantly reduce its value to businesses".

Few companies or trade groups, however, have agreed to publicly discuss their opposition to the issue of citizenship. In interviews, sources said they were only expressing their opinions in private meetings, out of fear of a negative reaction from the White House.

Spokespersons for several major professional groups, as well as large corporations such as Walmart Inc., Google's Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and many others declined to make a statement about this story or have not responded to requests for comments.

"While business and corporate groups are reluctant to enter the political turmoil surrounding the citizenship issue in the 2020 Census, they still rely heavily on accurate census data for their operations," said DeVere Kutscher. , executive director of the Census Business Coalition. industry's main advocacy groups.

"As a result, they focus their efforts on what they can do to support a complete, safe and accurate count, and they are naturally concerned about the impact of any factor that could compromise that," he said. -he adds.

In highlighting the political stakes, earlier this month, President Donald Trump tore up "radical" Democrats opposed to the issue of citizenship on Twitter, claiming that a census without such a question would have "any sense".

The Census Bureau has made every effort to ensure that everyone is counted, Burton Reist, a long-time census manager who oversees communications and stakeholder relations over a period of time, said in an interview. ten. In response to questions about the business world's point of view on the citizenship issue, a spokesman questioned Reuters about the Census Bureau's official responses to stakeholders.

The Department of Commerce, which houses the Census Bureau, declined to comment.

Post-litigation documents confirm that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross met with dozens of stakeholders, including business groups, to get their point of view, before announcing his decision to add the issue of citizenship last year.

While many feared the issue would hurt response rates, Ross was not convinced, according to a memo dated March 2018 explaining his decision. He said that the data from the question would help the Ministry of Justice to implement the provisions of the law on the right to vote.

AN "MRI" FOR COMPANIES

The stakes are important to obtain a precise count.

Retailers like Walmart and Target Corp use census data to decide where to open stores or distribution centers, and what to store on shelves.

Large banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co use information in the same way for the strategy of their agencies. Real estate companies examine statistics to determine where to build homes and shopping centers.

Television networks like Univision, for their part, rely on numbers to plan their programs in local markets. And the census is an important element for technology giants such as Google when they create a myriad of data-based products, such as maps.

"You get the households, the number of people, the number of bedrooms, the income, the sex, the age, the race, the marital status – it's almost like an MRI," said Jack Kleinhenz, Chief Economist at the National Retail Federation. "And all of this serves to determine where and how to provide goods and services."

Highlighting how the survey can lead to major business decisions, Amazon's 20 cities looking for a new headquarters also relied on census data.

Having failed to convince the administration to drop the issue, companies are now focusing on programs to encourage people to participate in the census in order to improve the quality of the data, indicated sources.

Efforts could include company-wide emails to employees, visibly displaying a link to the census on company websites, or setting up physical stations to allow clients to respond to the survey in their surveys. shops or shopping centers, sources said.

Prior to the 2010 census, McDonald's Corp provided information on restaurant placemats, Walmart's receptionists distributed flyers, large retailers received receipt reminders, and utilities blocked inserts in their utility bills. gas and water.

Such programs have been helpful in the past, said John Thompson, who spent nearly 30 years at the Census Bureau before leaving his director position in 2017. But they can overcome the negative impact of the question of citizenship is an open question.

"They have a row more difficult to hoe," he said.