Be counted

It’s official, and the ramifications are officially scary: The Census Bureau will end its counting of people in the United States on Sept. 30, a month before the coronavirus-extended period was to end. After President Trump tried and failed to add a citizenship question to the oncea-decade, constitutionally mandated survey, after he issued a memo ordering the bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from their tally, using who knows what means, the latest move can only be viewed through a lens of profound cynicism: The president, who has from the beginning tainted what should be a sacrosanct process, now looks for another way to ensure that heavily Democratic, heavily immigrant parts of America are undercounted.

Which, yes, would be a conspiracy from the very top to ensure that states and cities like New York have fewer representatives in the U.S. House, fewer votes in the Electoral College and billions upon billions less money from federal funding formulas, even as we wheeze and try to pull ourselves back on our feet after being walloped by COVID-19.

This despite the fact that the Empire State already sends $22 billion more to Washington every year than it gets back.

With a White House determined to distort the count, there is only one answer for New Yorkers worried about the federal government being tipped against their interests: Be counted. Visit my2020census.gov. Call 844-330-2020. Or return the form you were mailed. It takes minutes, and your privacy is fully protected.

It is your duty. Es tu responsabilidad.