The U.S. Census Bureau is acknowledging that its recent request for state drivers’ license records is the result of President Donald Trump’s order to use administrative records to compile citizenship data. Officials said in a statement Tuesday that the agency had expanded its request for records in response to Trump’s order, which was issued after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his administration’s efforts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.

The agency made the acknowledgment after The Associated Press reported Monday on the requests. Some civil rights groups are alarmed by the requests. Census officials say they will decide by March 31 on a methodology for tracking citizenship. The next day, April 1, is Census Day, marking the peak of efforts for the 2020 count.

Drivers’ license records for citizenship data

The U.S. Census Bureau is asking states for drivers’ license records that typically include citizenship data and has made a new request for information on recipients of government assistance, alarming some civil rights advocates. The two approaches, documented by The Associated Press, come amid President Donald Trump’s efforts to make citizenship a key aspect of federal information-gathering in the run-up to the 2020 Census, despite this year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a specific citizenship question can’t be included in the 2020 Census questionnaire.

Citizen data to help in determining votes

Civil rights advocates worry that the wider net being cast by the Trump administration for such information could chill Latino participation in the population count, which will determine how many congressional seats each state gets and guide the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars of federal funding. The results of the 2020 Census also will be used to redraw state and local electoral maps. Experts caution that inaccuracies in state motor vehicle records also make them a poor choice for tracking citizenship if that is the bureau’s goal. After the Supreme Court ruling, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in July requiring the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, to collect records on citizenship from federal agencies and increase efforts “to obtain State administrative records concerning citizenship.”

The American Association of Motor Vehicle adviced to consult privacy officers

The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators told The AP that most, if not all, states recently received requests for information including citizenship status, race, birthdates and addresses. The association has advised members to consult their privacy officers, and “each state is making their own determination how to respond,” spokeswoman Claire Jeffrey said in an email. In Illinois, Secretary of State Jesse White denied the request. “We, as a general rule, are not comfortable with giving out our data, certainly not in such a huge amount. That was the overriding concern,” said spokesman Dave Drucker.

Other states are weighing what to do. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has received the request but hasn’t responded, spokeswoman Beth Frady said. Motor vehicle agency records are notoriously inaccurate and “bad at determining when someone is not a citizen,” said Andrea Senteno, a lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which is challenging Trump’s executive order.“The Census Bureau usually plans for these types of big changes in their operations many, many years in advance, but they don’t have enough time right now to actually plan and provide clear information to the public about how they are going to use these administrative records,” Senteno said. “They’re flying by the seat of their pants right now.”