Mexico, Spain and Canada, among other countries, all ask a citizenship question in their respective censuses, but facts like that are carefully hidden from Univision viewers in the network’s reporting on the Trump administration’s plan to restore the traditional citizenship question to the next U.S. census in 2020.
Instead, like other liberal media outlets, Univision shows itself to be hell-bent on portraying the proposed citizenship question, currently facing a challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court, as a completely partisan, racist and anti-Hispanic electoral scheme. The bias was on full display in a May 31 report on the network’s national evening newscast, in which anchor Ilia Calderón and correspondent Luis Megid shamelessly presented allegations as fact:
ILIA CALDERÓN, ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Documents from a late Republican strategist show that the true intention of the question of citizenship in the census is to intimidate Hispanics and benefit the party. The evidence is already in the hands of the Supreme Court, which must decide whether it is legal or not to ask about citizenship.
In his report, correspondent Luis Megid neglects to point out the crucial detail that the citizenship question does not inquire about legal status, but simply asks if the respondent is a U.S. citizen. Instead, Megid parrots the argument of critics of the citizenship question who, in his words, view the aim of the question as being “to frighten millions of Hispanics so that they are not counted.”
The journalistic malpractice is compounded when Megid openly declares that documents from the late Republican redistricting expert Thomas Hofeller “show the critics are right.” Megid also fails to take into account the U.S. Commerce Department’s position on the matter, which affirms that there is no definitive empirical evidence showing that a citizenship question will have an impact on response rates.
Even worse, the Univision report does not even acknowledge that on May 30 the U.S. Department of Justice vigorously denied the allegations.
As Hans A. von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation has also pointed out, “What is odd about the challenge by blue states and liberal advocacy organizations is that even the United Nations — an institution they often hold up as a model of progressivism that the United States should emulate — sides with the Trump administration on this issue. In its 2017 ‘Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses,’ the U.N. recommends that member countries ask census questions identifying both an individual’s country of birth and country of citizenship."
Click on “Expand” to view the complete transcript of the above referenced report as aired on Noticiero Univision, on May 31, 2019.
Noticiero Univision
May 31, 2019ILIA CALDERÓN, ANCHOR, UNIVISION: Documents from a late Republican strategist show that the true intention of the question of citizenship in the census is to intimidate Hispanics and benefit the party. The evidence is already in the hands of the Supreme Court, which must decide whether it is legal or not ask about citizenship. Luis Megid explains the growing controversy over next year’s census.
LUIS MEGID, CORRESPONDENT, UNIVISION: Since it was proposed to ask about citizenship in the Census, the Government has maintained that it was doing so to protect the rights of voters. The critics have said the objective is to frighten millions of Hispanics so that they are not counted.
UNIDENTIFIED HISPANIC WOMAN: No, I would not participate...
MEGID: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED HISPANIC WOMAN: For the fear.
MEGID: The controversy will have to be decided by the nation´s Supreme Court. But in the few last days, documents found on the computer of Thomas Hofeller, a Republican strategist who died last summer, shows the critics are right.
REY LÓPEZ, COMMON CAUSE: They were planning this question precisely to crush the voice of Latinos.
MEGID: The documents obtained by the group Common Cause and presented to the court detail how the question would intimidate Latinos and benefit Republicans. The logic is simple: there is a direct relationship between the Census and political power. The number of people counted determines how many congressmen are in the House and which districts of the country they represent. If fewer Hispanics are counted, their power and representation are weakened.
EDWIN RODRÍGUEZ, CENSUS CAMPAIGN, LA MISIÓN ECOMONIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION: The results of the Census contribute to how the electoral districts are going to be established.
MEGID: Organizations that work to make Hispanics counted say the Republican strategy has always been clear.
RODRIGUEZ: This documentation is proof that they make this effort based on how they can recover ground for the Republican Party from the Census results, because including this question will discourage a lot of people.
MEJID: At least before these documents appeared, the majority of the judges of the Supreme Court seemed to sympathize with the position of the Government, that of course wants to include the question of citizenship in the Census. But in any event it is impossible to predict exactly what the Court will decide. What we do know is that the decision will be at the end of June. In San Francisco, Luis Megid, Univision.
