1. United States
  2. Va.
  3. Letter

Hands Off the Census: Count Everyone, Every Time

To: Rep. McGuire, Sen. Warner, Sen. Kaine

From: A constituent in Charlottesville, VA

August 8

We need to talk about the census. In 2020, Trump tried to straight-up ignore the 14th Amendment by leaving non-US citizens out of the census. That’s illegal; the Constitution says we count everyone living here, period. The Supreme Court didn’t even rule on it at the time, and thankfully, Biden reversed that order so the 2020 count stayed intact. Now? Trump’s back with a new plan to run a “special” census that would once again erase millions of people from the count. Not only is this unconstitutional on multiple levels, it’s a blatant power grab. Here’s the reality: • The Census Act can only be changed by Congress, and Congress has oversight. • Mid-decade head counts are allowed only for funding distribution, not for redistricting or political games. • The 14th Amendment is crystal clear: “the whole number of persons in each state” means everyone, no matter their legal status. Federal courts have backed this up again and again. If this goes through, it won’t just mess with numbers; it will warp representation, funding, and political power for a decade. We need Congress to hold the line. No shady rewrites of the Census Act. No fake mid-decade census to rig the maps. No erasing people from the record.

Share on BlueskyShare on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on WhatsAppShare on TumblrEmail with GmailEmail

Write to John J. McGuire III or any of your elected officials

Send your own letter

Resistbot is a chatbot that delivers your texts to your elected officials by email, fax, or postal mail. Tap above to give it a try or learn more here!