DataIndex.us: “Demography has historically been a quiet field with little time in the national spotlight. Between the three of us, we have spent nearly 5 decades working at the nexus of applied demographic modeling and public policy. We have built population estimates for the United States Census Bureau (Chris and Mark), built population estimates and forecasts outside of government (Beth and Chris), and have advocated for improvements in population estimation at both the federal and state levels (Beth and Chris). However, even with all of our combined experience, we were surprised by the news this week.

According to reporting from CNN, and confirmed through conversations we’ve had with state demographers, in order to receive FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grants, states “must now submit a population certification as of September 30 detailing their methodology and confirming that individuals removed under US immigration laws are not included in the tally.” Regardless of how one views this new requirement philosophically, strictly on technical grounds it raises several concerns for us. First of all, the above statement from FEMA lacks clarity on who should be removed from the population estimate. Does it include only those who have already been removed? Those who have received removal orders? What about self-deportations? Even if we assume we have a clear answer to that question, multiple questions and concerns remain….”