County comment warns that the proposal would cut federal funds for schools and services and strip away the data used to enforce civil rights and voting rights laws
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and Council President Natali Fani-González, on behalf of the County Council, today submitted the County’s formal public comment urging the U.S. Census Bureau to withdraw a proposed rule that would change who is counted in the 2030 Census and what it asks. The comment reflects the County Council’s resolution opposing the rule.
The proposed rule would:
- Leave out every resident who is not a U.S. citizen or green-card holder, including students and workers on visas, DACA recipients, TPS holders, and asylees.
- Remove race and ethnicity questions, asked in every census since 1790, and bar questions on sexual orientation.
- Count people where they “lawfully” spent the most days from Jan. 3 to April 1, checked against tax records, instead of where they live.
- Drop specific rules for counting people in nursing homes, shelters, foster care, and college housing.
- Use immigration and tax records to decide who is counted.
- Write these changes into federal regulation without the years of testing major census changes require.
Taken together, these changes would cost Montgomery County federal funding for a full decade without reducing the number of residents it serves and would strip away the data the County uses to enforce civil rights and voting rights laws.
“Frankly, it’s outrageous that we even have to fight this,” said Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich. “The Constitution says count every person. It doesn’t say count only the people the administration wants to count. These are our neighbors, classmates, coworkers, and families. They are part of this community. Leaving them out of the census doesn’t change who lives here. It just means less money to serve the same people for ten years, and every family in Montgomery County, immigrant families included, pays the price.”
Elrich also warned that the rule reaches well beyond who is counted.
“It rewrites the census from top to bottom. It counts people where tax records say they were instead of where they live, and it takes race and ethnicity off the census,” said Elrich. “That isn’t being color blind. It’s choosing not to look. You can’t fix what you refuse to measure. We’re telling the Census Bureau to drop this rule and do its job: count everyone, once, and in the right place.”
Elrich joined Council President Fani-González, Councilmembers, and community leaders today, after the Council passed its resolution opposing the rule, to call on the federal government to withdraw it.
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“Montgomery County deserves a census that reflects everyone who lives here,” said Council President Fani-González. “Not only is this proposed rule change against the Constitution, it also forces local governments to operate in the dark. Excluding thousands of our neighbors and stripping out race and data on ethnicity leaves us with incomplete information, resulting in fewer resources and less ability to address real community needs. We can’t plan for our families, our businesses, or our neighborhoods without accurate data. The Montgomery County Council stands together with our residents to insist on a fair, accurate count that includes every person and every community in this County.”
The rule’s impact on schools is of particular concern, since it would undercount the very children schools are required to serve.
“A complete and accurate census is essential to planning for the future of public education,” said Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas W. Taylor. “Census data help determine the resources available to our schools, from classroom instruction and specialized services to the support systems our students and families depend on. When the population we serve is not fully reflected in that data, the consequences can be felt in classrooms across Montgomery County. Our schools need funding decisions grounded in the actual needs of the communities we serve.”
There is also concern that the changes would limit opportunities for MCPS students.
“Every child in our schools deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed, regardless of immigration status or background,” said Board of Education President Grace Rivera-Oven.
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Community organizations that helped build trust with immigrant residents and contributed to Montgomery County’s 78% self-response rate in 2020—well above the state average—have also raised concerns.
“Omitting lawfully present immigrants from the census and removing race and ethnicity questions, creates fear and distrust within immigrant communities, particularly mixed-status households,” said Sarah Selim, managing attorney for Just Neighbors, a nonprofit that helps represent immigrants. “Excluding this vital information results in skewed demographic data, making it difficult for federal, state, and local governments to understand the realities of their communities and respond to those realities in a meaningful way.”
The public comment period closes Monday, Nov. 2. The County is asking the Census Bureau to extend it to Dec. 10, 2026. Residents and organizations can submit comments at regulations.gov under Docket USBC-2026-0628. The County’s full comment is available on the County Executive’s website.
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Read the original article at mcgov
