TRENTON — New Jersey is home to about 900,000 residents who are not citizens of the United States. That's about 1 in 10 people in the state, according to most recent estimates.

The federal government is planning to have the 2020 Census ask people their citizenship status. But many elected officials and community advocates say such a question could threaten federal funding for states like New Jersey.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Tuesday that a disproportionate number of people of color, whether or not they are citizens, live in New Jersey's so-called hard-to-count areas, defined as places where a low percentage of residents completed and submitted the most recent Census. The most up-to-date statistics released by Advocates for Children of New Jersey show that 51 percent of the state's black residents and 40 percent of Hispanic residents live in such areas.

The proposed Census question would not explicitly ask whether a non-citizen is in the country legally, but Booker said it still threatens to "keep immigrants and people of color in New Jersey and across our nation undercounted and underrepresented in our society."

"It's going to choke the participation we have in many of these already hard-to-count communities," he said. "It's going to set us back."

The citizen question is already asked by the the American Community Survey, which is an offshoot of the Census.

According to the ACS, 110 municipalities in the state have populations that are more than 10 percent non-citizen. Sixteen municipalities have at least a quarter of their populations made up of non-citizens.

Non-citizens include people with Green Cards and visas that allow them to live in this country legally.

The public has until Aug. 7 to comment on the citizenship question.

NJ towns with the most non-citizens

Ranked by percentage. See the full map below. (Naturalized citizens are immigrants who became citizens. Stats don't include citizens born abroad or on U.S. islands.)

East Newark

U.S.-born citizens: 1,107

Naturalized citizens: 483

Non-citizens: 1,045 — 38%

Palisades Park

U.S.-born citizens: 6,887

Naturalized citizens: 6,057

Non-citizens: 7,215 — 35%

West New York

U.S.-born citizens: 19,571

Naturalized citizens: 12,767

Non-citizens: 18,404 — 35%

Union City

U.S.-born citizens: 25,568

Naturalized citizens: 16,463

Non-citizens: 23,697 — 34%

Harrison

U.S.-born citizens: 6,637

Naturalized citizens: 2,817

Non-citizens: 5,013 — 33%

Plainfield

U.S.-born citizens: 29,915

Naturalized citizens: 4,638

Non-citizens: 14,972 — 30%

New Brunswick

U.S.-born citizens: 34,307

Naturalized citizens: 4,032

Non-citizens: 16,641 — 29%

Dover

U.S.-born citizens: 8,476

Naturalized citizens: 2,984

Non-citizens: 5,360 — 29%

Elizabeth

U.S.-born citizens: 61,580

Naturalized citizens: 24,003

Non-citizens: 36,215 — 28%

Plainsboro

U.S.-born citizens: 11,910

Naturalized citizens: 4,725

Non-citizens: 6,497 — 28%

Guttenberg

U.S.-born citizens: 5,010

Naturalized citizens: 3,277

Non-citizens: 3,182 — 27%

South Hackensack

U.S.-born citizens: 1,534

Naturalized citizens: 455

Non-citizens: 725 — 27%

Flemington

U.S.-born citizens: 3,004

Naturalized citizens: 358

Non-citizens: 1,210 — 26%

Perth Amboy

U.S.-born citizens: 26,148

Naturalized citizens: 7,774

Non-citizens: 13,491 — 26%

Freehold

U.S.-born citizens: 8,039

Naturalized citizens: 736

Non-citizens: 3,016 — 25%

Fairview

U.S.-born citizens: 6,843

Naturalized citizens: 3,687

Non-citizens: 3,608 — 25%

Victory Gardens

U.S.-born citizens: 871

Naturalized citizens: 214

Non-citizens: 395 — 24%

Jersey City

U.S.-born citizens: 143,462

Naturalized citizens: 48,125

Non-citizens: 59,419 — 23%

North Bergen

U.S.-born citizens: 27,971

Naturalized citizens: 18,672

Non-citizens: 14,179 — 23%

Little Ferry

U.S.-born citizens: 5,669

Naturalized citizens: 2,570

Non-citizens: 2,431 — 22%

Passaic

U.S.-born citizens: 38,718

Naturalized citizens: 11,743

Non-citizens: 15,668 — 22%

Edison

U.S.-born citizens: 53,918

Naturalized citizens: 24,379

Non-citizens: 22,315 — 22%

Hackensack

U.S.-born citizens: 25,272

Naturalized citizens: 8,238

Non-citizens: 9,631 — 22%

Fort Lee

U.S.-born citizens: 16,475

Naturalized citizens: 11,398

Non-citizens: 7,941 — 22%

Long Branch

U.S.-born citizens: 20,348

Naturalized citizens: 3,033

Non-citizens: 6,619 — 22%

Bridgeton

U.S.-born citizens: 18,397

Naturalized citizens: 544

Non-citizens: 5,408 — 21%

Leonia

U.S.-born citizens: 4,853

Naturalized citizens: 2,220

Non-citizens: 1,935 — 21%

Teterboro

U.S.-born citizens: 63

Naturalized citizens: 5

Non-citizens: 18 — 21%

Edgewater

U.S.-born citizens: 6,698

Naturalized citizens: 2,559

Non-citizens: 2,503 — 21%

Red Bank

U.S.-born citizens: 8,761

Naturalized citizens: 842

Non-citizens: 2,505 — 21%

Kearny

U.S.-born citizens: 23,224

Naturalized citizens: 8,973

Non-citizens: 8,536 — 20%

City of Orange

U.S.-born citizens: 18,703

Naturalized citizens: 5,036

Non-citizens: 6,116 — 20%

Garfield

U.S.-born citizens: 17,663

Naturalized citizens: 6,885

Non-citizens: 6,251 — 20%

Bound Brook

U.S.-born citizens: 7,159

Naturalized citizens: 1,084

Non-citizens: 2,062 — 20%

Ridgefield

U.S.-born citizens: 5,790

Naturalized citizens: 3,087

Non-citizens: 2,208 — 20%

$600B at stake

Of particular concern, said New Jersey Institute for Social Justice associate counsel Scott Novakowski, is how the Census helps allocate federal assistance within these mostly urban communities.

"It's used to determine how over $600 billion in federal funds are distributed to state and local governments," he said. "This is money used to support affordable housing, local schools, (and) healthcare facilities."

Sara Cullinane, Make the Road New Jersey director, echoed Booker when she said the citizenship question is being proposed to instill fear. But even fear, she added, has a monetary cost.

"Immigrants are now frightened of accessing benefits for their U.S. citizen children," Cullinane said.

The next Census Day is set for April 1, 2020, and a 2017 release from the U.S. Census Bureau identified the date for wording of all Census questions to be submitted to Congress as March 31 of this year. So for those fighting for a question on citizenship status to be excluded, the clock has been ticking for months already.

"That's why the ACLU is challenging the Census question in federal court, and it's why New Jersey's attorney general joined a lawsuit with several other states against this question," said Amol Sinha, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey executive director. "There's so much at stake."

Non-citizens in New Jersey

Scroll the map and click on a municipality to how many residents are U.S.-born citizens, naturalized citizens and non-citizens. The darker the shade of red the higher the percentage of non-citizens.

Patrick Lavery is Senior Producer of Morning News and Special Programming for New Jersey 101.5, and is lead reporter and substitute anchor for "New Jersey's First News." Follow him on Twitter @plavery1015 or email patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com.

More from New Jersey 101.5: