The Harrisonburg City Council approved a letter opposing the U.S. Department of Commerce’s proposal to alter the demographic questions and residence criteria for the Decennial Census. 

According to the letter, these proposed changes will reportedly categorically exclude a significant share of the city population. 

“We are highly concerned about the impact of an undercount of our population on Federal funding allocations to our locality,” the letter states. “Nearly all local government services cannot be restricted to only serve those with U.S. Citizenship or lawful permanent residency, making it critical for Federal grants to local governments to be based on our actual population.”

The letter concluded with the city strongly encouraging the U.S. Census Bureau to not enact the rule change as proposed.

View the full letter below:

Image Credit: City of Harrisonburg.