The collection of “statistics” is a useful function to the American People. The US Census Bureau crossed the line from “statistic gathering” to “intelligence gathering” when it began collecting “Personally Identifiable Information (PII)”. Power to “interrogate” law abiding citizens can only be granted by a Constitutional Amendment and the vote of the people. Unless the US Supreme court reviews and upholds those statutes, no one should provide any type of PII to anyone. The Supreme Court should rule that the American Community Survey is illegal and instruct the Commerce Dept to eliminate all PII from its databases. Just as mail-in ballots avoid PII, the methods for “statistics gathering” should be no less stringent.
I have combined an adaptation of Hayden’s excellent refusal cover letter, excerpts from citizen’s testimonials regarding harassment, a copy of the ACS I found online and mailed it to the Editorial Directors of the nation’s 25 largest news agencies. I have also purchased 50 bumper stickers that say: ‘Google “REFUSAL American Community Survey” as a down payment on my children’s liberty. Please do the same.
Homeland security and emigration control are very important issues; however, the people working them cannot be allowed to trample upon our Constitution. They must propose a solution and put it to the people directly. We all know that it was just this type of information gathering that allowed the German government to carry out it’s atrocities in 1935. Although it’s hard to imagine that happening here, there are other abuses that are easy to imagine such as phone, home, and work place harassment.