Reading list
Guides and talking points from coalition partners, plus a reading list on the proposed rule and the related fights over census data.
Guides, talking points, sign-on letters, and messaging. Organizations can also start from the community and civil rights groups template in the comment guide.
A Spanish-language civic campaign for Puerto Rico and its diaspora: what the proposed rule would change, help writing and submitting a comment, and participation tracked by municipality and state.
Open Puerto Rico Cuenta (en español) →For nonprofits
Materials and resources to protect a fair, complete, and accurate 2030 Census, including a summary of the proposed regulation, talking points, a comment template, and instructions for submitting.
Open the National Council of Nonprofits census guide →For nonprofits
Sign onto a national letter opposing the proposed changes to the census.
Sign the national letter opposing the census changes →Talking points
From the Prison Policy Initiative: why an accurate count means counting incarcerated people at home, how counting them at the facility leads to prison gerrymandering, and where the proposed rule is unclear.
Read the Prison Policy Initiative talking points →Talking points
From the Movement Advancement Project (MAP): what the proposed rule would mean for sexual orientation data on future censuses, why the Bureau should preserve a research-based process for evaluating new demographic content, and why protecting the collection and publication of same-sex couple data is critical to maintaining accurate, high-quality data.
Read the MAP talking points →MAP, the Transgender Law Center, and the Human Rights Campaign invite LGBTQ+ rights and allied organizations to sign on to their joint public comment opposing the proposed rule. Organizations only — individuals can’t sign, but can file a comment of their own.
Read the sign-on comment → Sign your organization on →Talking points
From Hawaiian Council: how census data underpins the federal trust relationship with Native Hawaiians, including the large share who live outside Hawaiʻi, why the broad “NHPI” category has to be disaggregated to be useful, and how the count shapes services, health research, and disaster response.
Read the Hawaiian Council talking points →Talking points
From the Alaska Federation of Natives and Get Out the Native Vote: why the 2030 Census needs a question identifying American Indians and Alaska Natives, answers to each reason the Bureau gives for dropping it, what the data funds and enforces, and how to comment. Comments are due November 2, 2026.
Read the AFN talking points (PDF, 454 KB) →Tribal consultation
The National Congress of American Indians’ September 23 letter to the Census Bureau, requesting two more government-to-government consultations in October so the 575 federally recognized Tribal Nations can assess a proposal that would affect data behind funding formulas, program eligibility, and resource allocation.
Read the NCAI letter (PDF, 357 KB) →Sign on
The Task Force’s letter opposing the proposed rule, open for organizations to sign. Read the current version, then add your organization using the sign-on form by 8:00 PM ET on Friday, October 30.
Read the CQR sign-on letter → Sign on by Oct 9 →Take action
A customizable comment from Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC for individual community members to oppose the proposed changes, written around what the loss of detailed, disaggregated race and ethnicity data would mean for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities, whose disparities are obscured in broader aggregate data.
Open the AAJC Action Center comment →Statement
Dr. Gail C. Christopher, National Collaborative for Health Equity, Sept 29, 2026: dropping race and ethnicity questions is a denial of the existence and humanity of diverse population groups, and would damage public health planning and data reliability. The statement points readers here to comment.
Read the statement →Messaging
Messages, language, and communications guidance on why accurate race and ethnicity data matters, from the Data Disaggregation Action Network.
Open the We Are The Data comms toolkit →For Tribal Nations
From the Native American Rights Fund (NARF): how the proposed changes could affect Native voting rights, Tribal sovereignty, planning data, and political representation, with a talking points document to download and guidance on how Tribes, organizations, and the public can respond.
Open the NARF census resources →The Bureau’s own materials on why it asks about race and ethnicity, and what the data are required for.
Source
This reading list comes from Andrew Reamer, Research Professor at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy (GWIPP), George Washington University: Resources Relevant to Four Current Controversies Over Census Bureau Data Products, 4th edition, current as of September 19, 2026.
Analysis, coverage, commentary and statements now live on the news page, where you can filter by type.
Reamer’s list also covers other recent Commerce Department actions on Census Bureau data, and the orders and policies behind them.
Points to draw on when you answer the arguments below.
These pieces argue for the proposed rule or the noncitizen voting report. They’re here so you can understand the other side’s case and answer it in your comment.