NEW YORK: An array of US companies have told the Trump administration that a citizenship question on the 2020 Census would harm business if it leads to an undercount of immigrants, undermining the data they use to place stores, plan inventory and plot ad campaigns.
Few other companies or trade groups, however, have been willing to discuss their opposition to the citizenship question publicly. In interviews, sources said they are only voicing opinions in private meetings, out of concern about a White House backlash. "As a result, they are focusing their efforts on what they can do to support a complete, secure, and accurate count, and are understandably concerned about the impact of any factor which could jeopardise that," he added.
While many expressed concerns that the question would hurt response rates, Ross was not convinced, according to a March 2018 memo he wrote explaining his decision. He said data from the question would help the Department of Justice enforce provisions of the Voting Rights Act.Retailers like Walmart and Target Corp use Census data to decide where to open stores or distribution hubs, and what to stock on shelves.
"You get households, number of people, number of bedrooms, income, gender, age, race, marital status - it's almost like an MRI," said Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist for the National Retail Federation."And it all goes into assessing where and how to provide goods and services."