Bachmann: Census Could Send People to Camps

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., says Americans should refuse to comply with the Obama administration’s 2010 census because the data could be used for nefarious purposes, including the imprisonment of Americans in internment camps.

Appearing on Fox News, Bachmann said it was the census that allowed the internment of the Japanese during World War II. She also boasted about breaking the law in refusing to complete the census form she received.

“If we look at American history -- between 1942 and 1947 -- the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt,” Bachmann said.

“That’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. I’m not saying that’s what the administration is planning to do. But I am saying that private, personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up.”

Bachmann said she was shocked that the census would ask for people’s telephone numbers. Although not required by law, the numbers are used only to contact recipients who have incomplete forms.

Bachmann also doesn’t like the fact the census asks about one’s age, race, and the type of home one lives in. According to the Census Bureau, questions on race have been asked since 1790; home language since 1890; rent since 1880; and income since 1940. The Census Bureau has asked what kind of heating fuel heats Americans’ homes since 1940.