A decade after a federal probe exposed the U.S. Census Bureau for hiring serious criminals to enter the homes of unsuspecting Americans to gather statistics for the decennial count, the shocking practice continues. As the agency prepares to employ half a million workers in the coming months, it is still enlisting criminals such as sex offenders to help conduct the 2020 count. One regional office recently discovered that it hired a man convicted of a felony involving sex with a child. Despite his criminal record, the man passed the Census Bureau’s background check and a Charlotte, North Carolina Area Census Office (ACO) employed him.
This month the agency’s inspector general offers troubling details of the case in a report that, incredibly, concludes the Bureau still can’t ensure felons—including sex offenders—do not get hired…
Back in 2010 Judicial Watch reported that the Census Bureau knowingly hired a registered sex offender with a long criminal history to make home visits even though such convicts are precluded from working for the agency. The embarrassing gaffe came to light when a young mother in a New Jersey suburb recognized the census worker who came to her home from the state’s registered sex offender database. She initially thought it was safe to provide the man with information because he was a legit U.S. Census Bureau worker with a badge and bag sporting the agency’s official logo.