CAPAC Chair Commends 2020 Census Data Product

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A (Detailed DHC-A). The Detailed DHC-A provides population counts and sex-by-age statistics for approximately 1,500 detailed race and ethnic groups and detailed American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribes and villages. Today’s data include population counts for 41 detailed Asian groups, 19 more than in 2010, and 31 detailed Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups, 11 more than in 2010.

“I commend Census Director Santos and the entire Census Bureau for releasing the Detailed DHC-A product and for engaging with data users, stakeholders, researchers, and tribal leaders to improve their data coding and more accurately represent our country’s diverse population and our many communities of color,” said Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28). “Disaggregated data is vital to having a comprehensive understanding of different communities’ unique experiences and challenges. The AANHPI community itself is extremely diverse, and we know that lumping our groups together can have harmful impacts by hiding the disparities that certain racial or ethnic groups face, including gaps in wages earned, health outcomes, or educational attainment. Policymakers depend on accurate data to develop specific legislative solutions that better address these inequalities and effectively serve all of our communities.

The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community consists of over 50 ethnic subgroups that speak over 100 languages. Several improvements were made within the Detailed DHC-A to more accurately code and process data for specific detailed race and ethnicity groups across all communities of color, including those within the AANHPI community. For example:

• After extensive engagement with the Sikh community, “Sikh” was included as a distinct detailed population group within the “Asian” racial category instead of being tabulated as “Asian Indian” like it was in the 2010 Census.
• The checkbox for “Guamanian or Chamorro” was updated to “Chamorro,” and the Bureau is now able to provide data for the Guamanian and the Chamorro populations. 
• Several Central Asian groups (i.e., Afghan, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen and Uzbek) were reclassified from the White racial category to the Asian racial category based on research and consultation with experts and stakeholders.
• New codes were added for Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Sikh, Sindhi, Bruneian, Mien, Buryat, Kalmyk, Kuki, Lahu, Malay, Mizo, Pashtun, Tai Dam and Timorese, and data for these groups will be available for the first time. 
• New codes were added for New Caledonian, Nauruan, Cook Islander, Easter Islander, French Polynesian, Maori, Niuean, Rotuman, Tuvaluan, and Wallisian and Futunan, and data for these groups will be available for the first time.  

Notably however, the file does not include disaggregated data for many other Southeast Asian American populations, such as the Montagnard, and continues to identify Hmong as East Asian instead of Southeast Asian.

“Data disaggregation across the federal government is one of CAPAC’s top priorities, and I appreciate the Bureau’s commitment to producing as much detail as possible while ensuring individuals’ confidential census responses remain protected,” continued Chair Chu. “I look forward to continuing our partnership with the Census Bureau and stakeholders to ensure AANHPIs are no longer classified inaccurately or combined together, to our communities’ detriment.”