However, Nelson said the recent test has a harmful effect.

“This is part of a move to create an environment of fear and hatred of people who aren’t white,” Nelson said. “Everybody knows this question has been in dispute for several months, and it’s concerning because the Census Bureau is supposed to be an independent agency, with the information you provide kept confidential.”

Households in Idaho also have received the same census test, the Idaho Statesman reported. Residents in California’s Bay Area also received surveys with the citizenship question, the Mercury News reported.

Nelson said the survey in conjunction with the current political climate, as families are being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, children are caged, and President Donald Trump directs harsh rhetoric toward minorities, refugees and people who are not U.S. citizens, creates a heightened sense of fear among minority communities.

“The repercussions of this question affect all of us in Texas and any other state with a great number of documented and undocumented immigrants,” Nelson said. “It creates a fear in which they won’t answer the census, and that affects future planning. That affects all of us.”