Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence
Thousands of census workers, including many temporary employees, are fanning out across America to gather information on the citizenry. This is a process that takes place not only every decade in order to complete the constitutionally-mandated census; but also as part of the continuing “American Community Survey” conducted by the Census Bureau on a regular basis year in and year out.
What many Americans don’t realize, is that census workers — from the head of the Bureau and the Secretary of Commerce (its parent agency) down to the lowliest and newest Census employee — are empowered under federal law to actually demand access to any apartment or any other type of home or room that is rented out, in order to count persons in the abode and for “the collection of statistics.” If the landlord of such apartment or other leased premises refuses to grant the government worker access to your living quarters, whether you are present or not, the landlord can be fined $500.00.
That’s right — not only can citizens be fined if they fail to answer the increasingly intrusive questions asked of them by the federal government under the guise of simply counting the number of people in the country; but a landlord must give them access to your apartment whether you’re there or not, in order to gather whatever “statistics” the law permits.
In fact, some census workers apparently are going even further and demanding — and receiving — private cell phone numbers from landlords in order to call tenants and obtain information from them. Isn’t it great to live in a “free” country?
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1,749 comments Add your comment
C P
May 28th, 2010
5:32 am
An american community survey worker came to my house after I tossed two of their forms in the trash. I offered to pay the fine if they would send me the bill. After multiple calls and threats I asked them how many people have actually been fined for refusing to participate. I was told, “None that I know of.” I said, “Put me on that list.” Never heard from them again. When I received the 2010 census form I only answered how many people and what age. Haven’t heard from them yet either.
Binge Franklin
May 28th, 2010
5:34 am
You know, it is pretty clear who all the procensus comments come from here. It’s the usual suspects wealth-redistributors, and that and gerrymandering is all the census is about. Come on, quit playing games. Just admit that you are basically marxists at heart, and that you object to the villification of one of American marxism’s main tools. You know, with the stories of assault, rape, and robbery by some census workers that recently came out in the news, well you have to wonde about that too. Uckfay the ensuscay.
PA Republican in NY
May 28th, 2010
5:40 am
Hey Bob, how about a citation to the law so we can read it? It could be limited to requiring landlords to permit census workers into the common areas of gated communities and private apartment complexes (e.g., most luxury apartments have doormen who prevent access without authorization). If the language is too ambiguous, find a legal services agency to file a request for a declaratory order in federal court.
Willbarb
May 28th, 2010
5:47 am
It is tragically sad that so much hogwash is published, believed and reacted to with such flourishes of testosterone (so many gun references!) As a census worker in address verification, group home surveys and follow-up of non-responders I was trained three times — this article is whacko. The census project is another test of maturity for citizens. I entered very few homes, and only after polite invitations. The number of negative citizens who believe this article is thankfully small. Most non-responders were just very busy when the mail arrived. People I interviewed appreciate living in US of A and do what they can to help it. . .even allowing themselves to be counted.
Jim
May 28th, 2010
5:50 am
Bob, I’m sure you can cite the section of law that allows census workers to do this – and you should, because without backing up your statements with actual evidence it just sounds like paranoid fearmongering.
Ron in the Georgia Mtns
May 28th, 2010
5:50 am
Bob, have you ever even looked at the 2010 Census form?
It would be hard to make it much simpler and still get the information required by common sense use of the Census and the U.S. Constitution. Even if you go back 200 years, you’d find it was necessary to collect more information than just the raw numbers of people in the United States. You remember, don’t you, that they use to have to identify slaves so they could be counted as a fraction of a person? So, even in those “simpler times,” things were not as simplistic as seems to be wanted by you.
If you want to see complex and intrusive why don’t you take a look at the “long form” of the 2000 Census. Just in case you hadn’t heard, there is no “long form” on this, the 23rd Census of the United States.
UncleSam101
May 28th, 2010
5:51 am
It’s difficult to see what is wrong with a census worker telephoning a citizen to ask for census information. On the other hand, entering a house or apartment when not given permission by the occupant sounds downright hazardous for the census worker…and properly so. If my neighborhood a stanger in the house when the owner comes home could result in trajedy and police calls.
Jay
May 28th, 2010
5:53 am
Good thing we have the Constitution. O wait that only protects Criminals and illegal aliens in this country. I love living in the USSA
cj
May 28th, 2010
5:55 am
I sent my census form in answering the only Constitutionally required question: how many people live in my house on April 1, 2010. Beyond that, I’ll go to jail before I pay any fine or allow the ACORN worker thugs in my home!
Gretel
May 28th, 2010
5:59 am
The census worker in jail in Salem Indiana did enter the home and he is charged with taking more than credit cards and $$ lying around…he raped a disabled girl.
If a census worker comes to my door I will hide behind licked doors and call 911 and have them call that individual off….I completed my census form the exact number in my home and sent it in already.
bdwlexky
May 28th, 2010
6:00 am
Remember the woman who got shot by the police in her home over the mandatory census policy!!!
diane emmerich
May 28th, 2010
6:01 am
Over THEIR dead bodies!
tastey
May 28th, 2010
6:01 am
I dont mind the workers comming into my house its kind of hard to let them go after you deside how good they taste. Slow roasted in a 220 deg oven for 6 hrs covered with some garlic mmmm good eats Keep em comming hehehehe
Joe Schmo
May 28th, 2010
6:02 am
Folks, I have worked as an administrative law attorney for the federal government, the following synopsis accurately sums up the intent of this intrusive law.
BTW, all the census workers posting here really need to THINK about what they’re saying and writing. We citizens don’t care what you learn in your training or in your manuals, we care about the government using every means possible to spy, snoop and attack the citizenry. Plus, you have a crappy job, are a government stooge and just away for Biraq to falsely boost his unemployment “figures” – do this republic a favor, shut up and quit.
WRONG – Census workers cannot enter your apartment in your absence
RIGHT – Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence, and search your belongings to ascertain the number of residents as of April 1.
A manager shall give access to an apartment building AND provide keys to individual units to adhere to the following binding statute.
“Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house, tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary or by any other officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, acting under the instructions of the Secretary, to furnish the names of the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and egress therefrom to any duly accredited representative of such Department or bureau or agency thereof, so as to permit the collection of statistics with respect to any census provided for in subchapters I and II of chapter 5 of this title, or any survey authorized by subchapter IV or V of such chapter insofar as such survey relates to any of the subjects for which censuses are provided by such subchapters I and II, including, when relevant to the census or survey being taken or made, the proper and correct enumeration of all persons having their usual place of abode in such premises, shall be fined not more than $500.”
Per administrative law, the census worker is allowed to obtain refreshment from the legally entered domicile, including water, soft drinks and sandwiches. At this time, the OMB is forbidding census workers to use private domicile appliances.
It’s called reading comprehension and wisdom sheeple.. not so good these days…
Jabonz
May 28th, 2010
6:03 am
I work for the ACS. There is no way in he!! I would enter anyone’s abode without the respondent’s permission. There might be some ‘Rambo without a jockstrap’ a$$hole that would attempt anything that stupid; me: not a shot in he!!. I mean, if I found some NRFU (non responce followup enumerator) in my house without my permission, were talking chumslick. The last words that idiot would hear is: Have you ever seen the movie “Fargo” before they go head first into the woodchipper. While we are legally allowed access, in order to close the case, we need cooperation. Thug-like bully tactics don’t get results. Strong politeness does with a balance of respect for the privacy and dignaty of the respondent.
Pumba
May 28th, 2010
6:04 am
This is typical to the governements trickary on words. “Interpretation” is 9 tenths (9/10) of the law and can be tied up in the courts for years with the citizens having to prove they are right and in the mean-time go broke trying to stand up for their rights. Don’t take me wrong, I believe in a census to account for the number of citizens, but not at the expense of invasion of privacy. Why don’t they do a census on the number of illegal’s in the U.S.?
Wally
May 28th, 2010
6:05 am
I read the code; they have the right to gain access as they cannot be denied such – just another obommie-commie tactic.
Didn't vote for O
May 28th, 2010
6:05 am
I didn’t drink the Kool Aid and I didn’t vote for our current president, but I work the Census and I know what Mr. Barr has written is wrong and is DESIGNED to incite. “A house divided against itself cannot stand ” and based on this article I think Mr. Barr is one of the tools being used to saw America in half, otherwise his behavior makes no sense.
Enumerators may NOT enter individual premises. In fact, we are cautioned against doing it, even if we are invited in.
There is considerable talk about protecting privacy and it generally comes from people who plaster their lives all over the internet. One person who refused to answer the basic questions I asked, because he/she wanted to protect his/her privacy evidently forgot about the 6 column newspaper article, detailing everything in his/her life, recently written about him/her.
Gretel
May 28th, 2010
6:11 am
This is what sending multitudes of largely unvetted groups of people out to canvas neighbors.
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/23519483/detail.html
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/291904
http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-women-raped-by-census-worker-051110,0,3578244.story
Woman raped by census worker
A U.S. Census worker has been charged with rape and burglary, after two women in southern Indiana claim they were attacked. One of the victims was a 21 year-old physically handicapped woman.
Ella
May 28th, 2010
6:18 am
Get your facts straight.
This decade’s census doesn’t even ask as many questions as the 1790 census…this census it’s just how many people live here…names. age, race (to base immigration % rate at 2% per race) do you live there year round, do you own or rent…
And, No they can’t enter your apartment. Landlords/Gated communities have to offer access to the area/building. You do not have to give them people’s cell numbers.
Cenus workers can’t even open outside storm doors to leave a notice of visit…they have to wedge it under or in the door.
LIGHTHORSE
May 28th, 2010
6:21 am
I had a census worker come to my house and when he found out I am Native American he called me halfbreed. Hey Obama, your Buffalo Soldiers killed my Great Grand father.
Rick
May 28th, 2010
6:26 am
First of all, this article is completely false. Second, this article could precipitate hatred feelings toward census workers and endanger census workers lives (My wife being one of them).
She has told me that she is not allowed to even open an outer screen door.
This article should be pulled immediately.
mack
May 28th, 2010
6:28 am
hey check out this sweet political news website http://www.thepartisandialogues.com
AWE
May 28th, 2010
6:30 am
If you would have just filled out the paper from the get go, then you wouldn’t have to worry about them showing up anyways.
ben
May 28th, 2010
6:31 am
Yep Bob, This article is garbage. No census worker or any person in their right mind would attempt to enter a home without someones knowledge. It would be suicide.
vika
May 28th, 2010
6:34 am
Rita,
Your comments about “toothless tea party peaople” is incorrect. As a matter of fact I think it is the feminatzi liberal women who don’t look so good… I think liberals are unhappy losers who want to feel like they are part of something….
and please Rita, don’t start on “teabaggers” because you are NOTHING compared to me. May I add, I am not toothless…I am a 5′9 high fashion model ( yes, the real kind) and I can make you feel very insecure ….
vika
May 28th, 2010
6:34 am
“are incorrect”
Ashley Riddle
May 28th, 2010
6:34 am
Id happily make an example of them with a .357 mag.
SirCoolBreeze
May 28th, 2010
6:35 am
Your red herring is showing again, Bob.
Smedly
May 28th, 2010
6:36 am
Everyone in the country should practice civil disobedience by not ever filling in any paperwork, nor cooperate with the Big Brother Census Bureau.
vika
May 28th, 2010
6:38 am
Well, obama already “sawed ” America in half…. now the morans on the left need to wake up…
that is unless they are really believe in what is going on then they need to leave..
democrat
May 28th, 2010
6:40 am
Apartment living, ahhhh the beauty of it.
Living shoulder to shoulder with other democrat voters, having traded personal freedoms for nickel and dime goodies from the washington elite.
Can it get any better than that?
Just leave the door unlocked or the key under the mat, and let the feds and who-ever come and go as they please.
The B&R Massachusetts Friday Edition | Bob Parks: Black & Right 2010
May 28th, 2010
6:41 am
[...] Kennedy pleads not guilty to DWI, to surrender driver’s license Boozin’ in the blood Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence Kinda’ creepy U.N. Official Set to Ask U.S. to End C.I.A. Drone Strikes Protecting the rights [...]
Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence | Lux Libertas - Light and Liberty
May 28th, 2010
6:41 am
[...] Read at: http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2010/05/26/census-workers-can-enter-your-apartment-in-your-absenc... [...]
Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence | WeCogitate.net
May 28th, 2010
6:42 am
[...] workers can enter your apartment in your absence Posted on May 28, 2010 by wecogitate Bob Barr May 28, [...]
Anthony
May 28th, 2010
6:44 am
“or to give free ingress thereto and egress therefrom”
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode13/usc_sec_13_00000223—-000-.html
A link posted by e masters trying to debunk this article actually reinforces it….if the people posting after reading his post would have read the article they would not agree with him…read the link..read the law, read the bill, what is wrong with you liberals???
Google “egress and ingress” if you dont know what it is…
Alan GRAYSON
May 28th, 2010
6:44 am
I had a census worker come to my house and they counted me twice, because of my size and my huge……. Ego.
Boca Baby
May 28th, 2010
6:46 am
I am a Census Crew Leader and you cannot imagine how many people just refuse to answer any questions. Our problem is that the census is a constitutionally mandated operation. It is tied to the number of representatives each state has in the House of Representatives. And if you want to “tap dance” around it you should know that the census was mandated many, many years before an income tax return was required. Look at it this way: Refuse to provide census information or fail to file a tax return and the federal government is going to look into the matter.
Joe Schmo
May 28th, 2010
6:47 am
Of course, we can trust all the census takers and union thugs posting here, they are from the gubmint, and they are here to help.
Who wouldn’t trust this government 100% owned by Soros, CitiBank, BoA, BP and every other Fortune 100 company. We slowly went from a republic under Reagan to a plutocracy under the Kenyan muzzie. Thanks sheeple for spending more time watching “Idol” then watching our jobs, money and liberty evaporate since Dec-2006.
Shrektruck
May 28th, 2010
6:50 am
Wrong! Wrong! Wrongitty Wrong! Along with the other census workers her I can tell you that you are either misinformed or just plain lying. There are enough ACTUAL government intrusions in our lives that are unconstitutional, subversive and just plain wrong. Why don’t you focus on something real? Much like chicken little, you have not done your research. I suspect you have a pretty bad case of Beck envy. Seek counseling and then educate yourself.
gibby
May 28th, 2010
6:52 am
The 3 visit rule went out the window pretty quick. The census bureau was no longer ‘accepting’ people not being home or refusing to answer the questions. So, the workers were told to go back to the house 6 times, and even if the people give you the number of residents, but not their names, ages, birthdates, and race…they keep going back to try to get the info. They were to look up phone numbers on the internet and call after they were there six times. Also, if the initial census worker couldn’t get the info, then the bureau sends out another worker to try again. It is like the Gestapo! You were also not allowed to talk to the press!
Under Seige
May 28th, 2010
6:57 am
To “Fight the Good Fight,” you say the census workers are only permitted to return to the home 2 times and leave contact information. I don’t know what the actual rules are but you are incorrect in terms of the actual practice. I had a census person return to my home 10 times! Banging on my door every day. Clearly, these people are paid by the form completed. It’s just creepy big government. One of the questions is how many hispanics live in the home? What does that have to do with counting people? Communism, here we come! This isn’t about counting, it’s about control.
Vince
May 28th, 2010
6:58 am
Anyone comes through my door uninvited will think they landed at Normandy Beach.
Les Ismore
May 28th, 2010
7:02 am
Why is it that for the most part, the tolerance crowd on here expresses no tolerance just personal attacks on conservatives? That is why I don’t even discuss politics with the “true believers” anymore. There is no exchange of ideas, or position discussions, just a lot of personal attacks and reiterating the talking points set out by MSNBC and the DNC. No original thoughts. Anyway, I was worried about all the intrusiveness that I thought was coming with the census. I got the ten question form and was surprised how benign I thought it was. There was a question or two that I did not answer, but I did not think it was that bad. I do agree that there is no need for questions on race, sex, relationships, etc. NOT THEIR BUSINESS. If we are all the same, why the need to know? I don’t want a visit though. I don’t think that is required, and think it would be intrusive.
To the poster that said “If you’ve got nothing to hide then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”, I say in a free society you don’t have to be guilty to not like intrusiveness. This is the excuse used against you to make you feel like you are wrong.
You left wing haters need to start working on rational responses, not attacks on Palin and conservatives. Oh, that’s right tolerance means always agreeing with your point of view, not an acceptance of alternative views. “I tolerate you by attacking you and your opinions.” If you really hate the little freedoms we have left here, don’t wreck it further, go to one of the “people’s paradises” you promote, but don’t live in, like Cuba, Red China, North Korea, etc. See how far your personal opinion goes there. You’ve got to love a place that puts up mine fields, fences, and armed guards to keep the “free peoples” from running like hell to get to America.
Dave Ficere
May 28th, 2010
7:02 am
Not only that, but we filled out the form, answering only the first two questions. After dodging a visit from the census worker, I called the local office and politely explained we had complied with the legal requirement and they should not visit us again, because we weren’t going to give them any other information. Several days later, my neighbor and I were talking and he told me the census worker showed up at his house and was asking questions ABOUT US. Like, who lived there, how many kids we had, etc. Thankfully, my neighbor played dumb and didn’t give them any information. Apparently these workers are paid for each complete form they turn in.
Census workers can enter your apartment in your absence – Dark Politricks
May 28th, 2010
7:03 am
[...] Bob Barr May 28, 2010 [...]
Inquirer
May 28th, 2010
7:03 am
Additional proof that the United States Congress is sick!
http://www.CONGRESSisSICK.com
Clearly, it is time to purge Congress!
http://www.PurgeCongress.com
Brad
May 28th, 2010
7:05 am
The Conservative movement is not helped when one of our own writes nonsense. It gives the libs ammunition with which to attack us. Bob had a nice congressional career, but lately seems to have been taken with an outlandish “conspiracy theory” bug. This article of his is pure nonsense, as I imagine most of you realize.
rufus levin
May 28th, 2010
7:05 am
This is the worse excuse for journalism I have ever read, and is filled bith bile and foolishness. I have been working with the census to help get our community properly enumerated, so that we get to keep our number of representatives in the Congress, and so that we can collect a few statistical data points to help plan for schools and social services over the next ten years. We are allowed to go into apartment COMPLEXES and GATED communities. WE ARE NOT allowed to go into dwellings UNLESS INVITED BY THE OCCUPANT. I have found MANY people who are mad at the Federal Government, or have been frightened by the media and writers like this idiot into thinking that the CENSUS is BIG BROTHER. It operates like a survey company, not like the IRS. If anyone does not wish to answer data other than headcounts, we are trained NOT to be intrusive. The data helps the nation, does not get data that cannot frankly be gotten for the most part over the internet with search engines. I find every day that fine citizens, once they have learned how and why the census happens, are more than happy to provide data and then thank me for carring enough to go out in 95 degree weather and knock on doors to complete the ten year task that is required by the Constitution of the US. The First one was in 1790. The 2010 census askes about the same amount of info as did the FIRST one. The form and questions take me on average about 3 minutes to complete, and it is easier on the folks that filling out the original form mailed to them. So, come on, folks….stop the Glen Beck and Keith Olbermann polor sides of paranoid thinking. This is STILL AMERICA, and the Census Folks are just AMERICANS. With this economy having millions out of work, I have found that many census workers for this task are lawyers, accountants, executives, sales and marketing folks, that have lost jobs and careers, and are helping out for the small change they are paid, but are enthusiastic and energetic and knowledgeable. I am sure that other areas of the country may not have the exact same composition of the census teams…but other than a lot of operational foolish bureaucratic processes that we go through due to it being a Government entity, the census seems to be a pretty benign thing happening in our nation. The media keeps trying to find stuff to sensationalize for shock value of the readers, and with 700,000 temporary workers I am sure that stuff happens that is not so cool. But that is true of anything from sports to political rallies.
Brad
May 28th, 2010
7:05 am
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