They ask the community to participate in the 2020 Census as it will help California receive the necessary funds; emphasize that there is no question about your immigration status
It is estimated that in California, 63% of the inhabitants have already filled out their Census form, something required every 10 years. However, whether due to lack of information or disinterest, there are still thousands without participating.
To exacerbate the situation, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Tuesday asking to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census.
It should be noted that there is no way to carry out this request since in the Census form there are no questions about your immigration status.
Today pro-immigrant organizations ask community members, regardless of their immigration status, not to be intimidated.
The Los Angeles Pro-Immigrant Coalition for Human Rights (CHIRLA) said that this Trump movement is more of the same, “a cheap attempt to scare immigrants away from being counted.”
Esperanza Guevara, manager of the Census program at CHIRLA, indicated that regardless of Trump’s rules, they will continue to encourage everyone to participate in the census.
“We know the benefits, we believe in the process, and Trump can no longer distract us from working to improve our communities,” he said.
For his part, Thomas A. Saenz —MALDEF president and general counsel— said that Trump’s memorandum “will end up in the dustbin of history as yet another example of the disturbing acceptance of nationalism.”
He asserted that MALDEF will be in court to stop this “blatantly unconstitutional” executive action. [presentada] for a failed presidency. “
Don’t let your guard down
Despite the president’s announcement, activists and organizations are working hard to continue encouraging the community to be counted in the 2020 Census.
Samuel Molina, state director for Mi Familia Vota in California, said they continue to make calls to encourage participation and that before the pandemic they knocked on doors to inform communities.
He added that although the count is not given in a while, due to the health crisis, there is still time since the deadline has been moved to October 31.
In Los Angeles County, it is estimated that just over 58% have completed their census questionnaire.
Lizette Escobedo, director of the National Census program, said being counted is not only an important part of representation in Congress but also at the local level.
“It is political power, resources for our community, for hospitals, school transportation, housing … There is a lot at stake here,” he explained.
He added that although California only has just over 63% of households counted not bad in the count, since the state has financing of $ 183 million for a campaign that unites efforts to count communities of color.
“We see that the count is not really going as badly as some of the other states, but California is still absolutely critical because in most of its counties, it has communities with large Latino and immigrant populations,” Escobedo said.
And he stressed that people must understand that there is no memorandum of presidential policy or administration that can replace amendment 14 of the US Constitution, which says that “we have to count all people, for the sake of distributing the resources”.
“Regardless of what I say [la administración] Trump, we all have the right to be told even if we are undocumented or born here, ”he said.
“So, to the Latino and immigrant community, we tell them to continue making themselves known … If not, that’s exactly what partisanship wants within this Trump administration.”
People can continue to be counted by either returning the envelope sent to them by mail, online, or by phone. Otherwise, as of August 11, the census takers will be knocking on the doors of those who have not been counted to help them fill out their form.
If the person does not answer their door, a notification will be left to let them know that the census takers have arrived to help them and they will be offered the option of contacting them or making themselves known in the aforementioned media.
To answer online visit: https://my2020census.gov/ or call 1 (844) 330-2020.
