Organizations manage to motivate the community to participate in the 2020 Census.
The extension of the deadline to participate in the Census, which occurred as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, fell like a charm to regions and communities where participation so far has not been expected by organizations that promote the count.
And is that a few days ago, the United States Census Bureau delayed the deadline to complete the questionnaire online and by phone until October 31; which gives organizations that promote counting time that is worth gold.
In the Inland Empire region, made up of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, participation so far has not been desired but neither is it discouraging considering the current situation.
In figures
According to Census data, the current participation rate nationwide is 49.8%.
California records to date 50.9% participation; however, Inland Empire shows that only 47.8% has been counted, two percentage points below the national level and more than three percentage points below the state level.
Italia García, director of political affairs for the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), told La Opinion that despite the fact that the organizations have not been able to promote the door-to-door count due to orders issued by the state government to decrease The spread of the coronavirus has been successfully achieved thanks to technology.
“We have not been able to share education in public places like the street market or supermarkets. However, we have been very successful in our transition to telephone banking and digital organization through the Internet, ”he said.
“We understand that we need to continue to improve our strategy to reach hard to count populations. The phone bank lists are only of registered voters, making certain communities difficult to count how immigrants are still left out. We hope that word of mouth and media efforts will help bridge that gap, ”said Garcia.
Community efforts
According to Deborah Phares, Census 2020 project manager, due to the pandemic the Bureau has temporarily canceled field events – including Operation Update Leave, in which census agents hand-deliver invitations to respond to counting.
"This operation is of valuable help in rural areas," he explained.
To counter the situation, Phares said some groups have recorded messages from personalities broadcasting through a loudspeaker installed in the back of trucks. The message is clear and concise: "Make yourself count."
Social distancing has not stopped community groups in their effort to convince the community to be counted.
Luz Gallegos, director of community programs at the TODEC Legal Center in Perris, said the pandemic has added to the list of factors that have hampered the count but has also brought out how creative groups can be in achieving the goal.
He stressed that despite the fact that the current Administration has tried to discourage the participation of the immigrant community, first with the question of citizenship that failed and then with the issue of public charge, the community has not relented.
Gallegos said that a latent obstacle is the so-called "dead zone" or dead zone, areas where the Internet signal is null.
“The attacks (by the Administration) have been constant, which makes the community not trust so easily and hesitate to participate. We have faith that the community will put aside mistrust and the count will participate tremendously, ”he added.
Counting is important
“The importance of being counted is being experienced right now with the pandemic. There are regions that do not have resources because participation 10 years ago was low. We cannot allow this to happen again, our future and families are at stake. ”
And it is that the count is not only key for the regions to obtain adequate economic funds but also for communities to have better political representation.
Gallegos awarded the victory of driver's licenses for undocumented residents to the 2010 count, which allowed the redistribution of districts that in turn benefited the immigrant community.
“After years of work and assisting thousands of people to naturalize Americans, we realized that nothing changed. It was then that we understood the importance of the census. We mobilized communities and the results were elections won by representatives who understand our needs. All that is at stake, we have our future in our hands, "he said.
TODEC recently organized a virtual concert with the participation of Tito Rey and Frankie J. Before, the singers talked about the importance of the census. "Technology is our best ally," said Gallegos.
"If we don't make ourselves count, then we can't complain." l
