NALEO Opposes Nomination of William Barr as Attorney General

Nominee’s support for the addition of a citizenship question to Census 2020 is in direct conflict with the organization’s commitment to “justice for all”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) issued the following statement regarding the nomination of William Barr to serve as the next Attorney General: “As an organization whose members are on the front lines of their communities, NALEO knows firsthand how critical an accurate count of the Latino community in Census 2020 is for the nation. “By expressing support for a citizenship question that would drastically depress response rates of Latinos and others in Census 2020, William Barr has demonstrated that he does not meet one of the key principles our board uses to evaluate federal nominees—a ‘commitment to equal justice for all’. “Given the importance of Census 2020 in distributing billions of dollars in federal funding and the allocation of political representation to communities across the country for the next 10 years, we cannot afford to have millions of Latinos and other Americans missed in the nation’s next decennial count. “The stakes are too high to fail, and we cannot support a nominee who is willing to let an untested, politically motivated citizenship question threaten the entire Census 2020 operation. Since he does not meet the standards set forth in our principles, NALEO opposes the nomination of William Barr to serve as the next Attorney General of the United States.”