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After a controversial decision by the Department of Commerce to 

add a question about U.S. citizenship to the 2020 census,

 White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended the move as nothing out of the ordinary.

"This is a question that's been included in every census since 1965," Sanders said Tuesday, "with the exception of 2010, when it was removed."

This statement is inaccurate, incomplete and misleading. A quick history of the decennial survey makes that clear.

The census has been conducted every decade 

 to get a national head count used most critically to decide the distribution of congressional representation. At first it was conducted by U.S. marshals, but later surveys were sent to most American households, with census workers helping those who didn't promptly return their surveys.

The last time a census form sent to most American households asked a question about U.S. citizenship was in 1950. 

 asked where each person was born and in a follow-up question asked, "If foreign born — Is he naturalized?"

 there was no such question about citizenship, only about place of birth.

Sanders mentioned the year 1965 on Tuesday, but the census only comes every 10 years, so it isn't clear what she was referring to, and the White House did not respond to a request for clarification.

In 1970, the Census Bureau began sending around two questionnaires: a short-form questionnaire to gather basic population information and a long form that asked detailed questions about everything from household income to plumbing. The short form went to most households in America. The long form was sent to a much smaller sample of households, 1 in 6. Most people didn't get it.

Starting in 1970, questions about citizenship were included in the long-form questionnaire but not the short form. For instance, in 2000, those who received 

 were asked, "Is this person a CITIZEN of the United States?"

 kept it simple: name, relationship, age, sex, Hispanic origin, race, marital status and whether the home is owned or rented.

In 1996, the census added a new survey, the 

 conducted every year and sent to 3.5 million households. It asks many of the same questions as the census long-form surveys from 1970 to 2000, 

Sanders said that in 2010 the citizenship question was removed. In fact, there was no long form that year — it had been replaced by the annual American Community Survey. 

 to block the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The concern expressed by states with large undocumented immigrant populations is that asking about citizenship will scare people off, forms won't get filled out and the count won't be accurate, affecting federal funding and the number of congressional seats. (Though the Census Bureau is legally required to 

 even from the FBI and other government entities.)

Question will hurt census accuracy

In a memo explaining his reasoning, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dismissed concerns about incentive to participate.

But if the 2020 census form does ultimately ask about citizenship status, it will be the first time most American households have received a survey asking about citizenship since 1950.

Politics and Government News

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said a question about U.S. citizenship was included in every census from 1965 to 2000. Census history tells a more nuanced story.

Census.gov | Screenshot by NPR

The 2000 long-form survey was sent to a subset of Americans. 

Fact check: Has citizenship been a standard census question?

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