Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC Applauds the Confirmation of Robert Santos for Director of the U.S. Census Bureau 

Robert Santos to become the U.S. Census Bureau’s first Senate-confirmed Director of color 
For Immediate Release
Contact
Michelle Boykins (202) 296-2300, ext. 0144 mboykins@advancingjustice-aajc.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the Senate confirmed Robert Santos on a bipartisan basis to serve as the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau at the Department of Commerce.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, a national Asian American policy advocacy organization, issues the following statement: 

“Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC celebrates the Senate’s confirmation of Robert Santos as the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau at the Department of Commerce. We congratulate Santos as he becomes the first person of color to serve in this position. 

His confirmation is particularly significant as his areas of specialization include working with undocumented immigrant populations and disadvantaged communities. Having worked with these communities, Santos understands the issues facing communities of color and immigrant populations and will use that knowledge to work effectively with our communities to get an accurate and fair count of traditionally hard to reach segments of our population. Furthermore, Santos has engaged with a diverse range of policy work, which spans from education and health to immigration and elections.  

Communities across the country, especially the most marginalized, depend on fair and accurate Decennial Census data, which determine the distribution of federal funds and resources, the American Community Survey, and other data products. With over 40 years of experience as a statistician, Santos has dedicated his career toward building expertise in quantitative and qualitative research design, statistical analysis, sampling, and survey operations. As the 116th President of the American Statistical Association and the Vice President and Chief Methodologist at the Urban Institute, Santos engaged directly with the intersections of data, statistics, and advocacy —a set of knowledge that makes him more than qualified to serve as the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. 

We look forward to working with Santos, especially as redistricting data has been released, and other important data products are forthcoming. With his extensive expertise in mind, Advancing Justice – AAJC is confident that he is the right person to lead the federal government’s largest statistical agency.”