Mayor Pete Buttigieg campaigned Friday against the proposed 2020 census question which asks people in the United States whether or not they are citizens.
Buttigieg said the court proceedings of the question proved the census question was “motivated racially and politically.”
“It is wrong, and we must resist that,” he said at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials presidential forum.
Critics of the proposed question on the census argue illegal immigrants will not participate in the census if they are worried about exposing their citizenship status to the federal government. The case currently rests in the Supreme Court.
Buttigieg suggested even illegal residents were vital for cities to experience growth.
“If we don’t properly count the people living in our community, then the people in our community will be shortchanged,” he said.
President Donald Trump has defended the question, suggesting it would be “ridiculous” not to ask participants whether or not they are U.S. citizens.
“I think when you have a census and you’re not allowed to talk about whether or not somebody is a citizen or not, that doesn’t sound so good to me,” Trump said.
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