Census Bureau Policy on Non-Citizen Hiring
Posted Feb 05, 2000

As part of the enormous undertaking to obtain Census data in the U.S., referred to as the 2000 Census, the U.S. Census Bureau (CB) needs about 800,000 workers for outreach, follow-up and other efforts at local and regional offices.

In July of 1999, the CB stated that non-citizens who were authorized to work in the U.S. would be eligible to apply for these jobs. However, federal law did not allow U.S. government agencies to hire persons from certain countries that were not U.S. allies. China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are just a few examples. Certain exceptions to hiring people from these countries include emergencies or when jobs require translation skills.

Consequently, On January 21, 2000, the CB announced that for jobs that require translation skills, applicants would be considered regardless of country of origin. Jobs not requiring such skills would be restricted to U.S. citizens and citizens of allied countries, in accordance with the usual rule.

The CB encourages non-citizens to apply for jobs. Immigrants need to stand up and be counted! As we indicated in a previous edition of the Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C., Bulletin, the results of the census can have a major impact in a wide variety of social, economic and political spheres, from apportionment of electoral districts, to government funding of programs and other priorities.