Thread by @hansilowang

JUST IN: The White House has released President Trump's executive order on collecting information about citizenship status in connection with the decennial census (not on White House website yet, but emailed to reporters)👇

documentcloud.org/documents/6189…

2. Trump: "the Attorney General and the Secretary of Commerce have informed me that the logistics and timing for carrying out the census, combined with delays from continuing litigation, leave no practical mechanism for including the question on the 2020 decennial census."

3. Trump says that the sharing of government records on citizenship between the Census Bureau and other federal agencies "remains in negotiations to secure access" and that his executive order would "eliminate delays and uncertainty."

4. In May, @uscensusbureau's chief scientist, @john_abowd, said there's an "active research program" to determine how to release citizenship info based on other agencies' records. He said bureau was waiting for "guidance" from Commerce @SecretaryRoss👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss 5. Trump says he's creating an "interagency working group to improve access to administrative records, with a goal of making available to the [Commerce] Department administrative records showing citizenship data for 100 percent of the population"👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss 6. The working group on administrative records will be chaired by the @uscensusbureau
director and "the head of each agency shall designate a representative to the working group upon request from the working group chair"👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss 7. Here's the list of government records on citizenship that President Trump's executive order is requiring @DHSgov, @StateDept, @SocialSecurity & @HHSGov "to the maximum extent consistent with law, provide access to"👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 8. Trump: "Generating accurate data concerning the total number of citizens, non-citizens, & illegal aliens in the country has nothing to do with enforcing immigration laws against particular individuals"👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 9. Trump's executive order says citizenship information is "important for multiple reasons," but read it & you'll find no mention of the Voting Rights Act -- the administration's stated reason for wanting to add a #CitizenshipQuestion to the #2020Census👇

documentcloud.org/documents/6189…

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 10. The 1st reason for citizenship information Trump's executive order cites is "to help us understand the effects of immigration on our country & to inform policymakers considering basic decisions about immigration policy"👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 11. The 2nd reason for citizenship information Trump's executive order cites is to be able to "evaluate the potential effects of proposals to alter the eligibility rules for public benefits" in a way that ensures immigrants don't receive public benefits they're not eligible for👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 12. The 3rd reason for citizenship information Trump's executive order cites is to create a "more reliable" count of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S.👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 13. 4th reason for citizenship info Trump's EO cites is to allow states to draw voting districts based on number of eligible voters instead of total number of residents, which GOP strategist Thomas Hofeller concluded would be "advantageous to Republicans & Non-Hispanic Whites"👇

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 14. There's no mention in President Trump's EO of a "purpose" for citizenship info AG William Barr highlighted earlier today - to break with federal government's long-standing practice of including every person living in US in census numbers used to divide up congressional seats.

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov 15. @TheJusticeDept has been defending @uscensusbureau in lawsuit by Alabama @AGSteveMarshall & @RepMoBrooks to exclude unauthorized immigrants from apportionment count.

Today, AG William Barr -- the head of DOJ -- said, "We will be studying this issue."

https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1136626673410093056

@uscensusbureau @john_abowd @SecretaryRoss @DHSgov @StateDept @SocialSecurity @HHSGov @TheJusticeDept @AGSteveMarshall @RepMoBrooks 16. President Trump said earlier today that "we must have a reliable count of how many...illegal aliens are in our country."

How does collecting government records on citizenship get you there? Here's how according to Trump's executive order👇