The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
The COVID-19 pandemic rightfully has been at the forefront in recent months, but the 2020 census must be a priority as well. Our Constitution calls for us to count every person living in this nation every 10 years to ensure our communities receive their share of federal funds equitably and to make sure election-district lines are fairly drawn.
It is secure, safe and anonymous for everyone to be counted, regardless of immigration status, during the ongoing 2020 census count.
The president issued a memorandum last week trying to keep undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census. Already three lawsuits have been filed to nullify the memo so it will not impact the count.
The Constitution is clear that the census is to count everyone living in the United States regardless of whether or not they are U.S. citizens. The census form does not have a citizenship question and collects only numbers of household residents and their demographics.
The president earlier had tried to insert a citizenship question in the census form. The U.S. Supreme Court struck that down.
The importance of the census is clear from its use for the distribution of federal funds under three major congressional acts in response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the $2.2 trillion CARES Act.
Census figures determine how the federal government distributes $675 billion per year to states, counties, cities, and towns under 132 different programs.
Medical assistance, food stamps, highway planning and construction, along with school lunches, federal college grants, and emergency-response readiness, are among the many critical programs for which federal funds are issued based on census figures. These are issues affecting all of our lives daily.
Census data also are required to draw boundary lines for congressional, state legislative, and county supervisor districts, as well as for city council wards.
The candidates elected to the districts created with census figures are charged with representing every person living within the districts’ boundaries.
The disruption of the coronavirus pandemic has slowed the 2020 census count, and to date, an estimated 4 in 10 residents have not completed a brief census form.
We know the easiest way to respond to the census is by going directly to the census website at www.census2020.gov. Reminder census postcards are going to those who have yet to respond, and census workers will be going out in a safe manner to groceries, pharmacies, food banks, and other places people frequent in low-count census tracts. Census workers will begin door-to-door visits on Aug. 11.
We will soon see census workers counting people in campgrounds, RV parks, marinas and hotels from Sept. 3 to 28. People who are homeless, in shelters, soup kitchens and other sites will be counted from Sept. 22 to 24.
For federal funding, for political representation, for effective responses to emergency situations such as the coronavirus pandemic, census figures are vitally important. So please respond to the census, and urge your families, friends and neighbors to do it, too!
