Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Census Bureau continues outreach
Agency adds phone calls, emails in increased effort to reach those who have yet to fill out questionnaire.
ORLANDO — If you haven’t filled out the 2020 census form, you may be getting an email, call or questionnaire in the mail asking you to answer the questions.
The U.S. Census Bureau said Friday it was sending emails to homes in neighborhoods where the response rate was less than 50%. The email addresses were culled from contact information from state assistance programs and commercial lists. The Census Bureau said it expects to send 20 million emails, as the agency enters the homestretch of the once-adecade head count of every U.S. resident.
The 2020 census started for most residents in March, but some operations were interrupted by the pandemic.
The Census Bureau also said it was directing census-takers to call homes that haven’t yet responded, using phone numbers from third-party purchased data, as well as sending a seventh mailing that includes a paper questionnaire.
The extra efforts to reach out to homes that haven’t yet responded to the 2020 census comes as up to 500,000 census-takers were sent this week to knock on the doors of laggard households. As of Friday, 63.6% of households have responded to the 2020 census.
The extra push is coming as the Census Bureau is dealing with a shortened schedule for wrapping up the head count in the middle of a pandemic. The Census Bureau had asked Congress for deadline extensions that would have allowed it to finish the census at the end of October.
With the request stalled in Congress, the Census Bureau said it would finish the count at the end of September.
GAO report on officials:
The two most senior officials in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were improperly appointed under federal law by the Trump administration, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog said.
The Government Accountability Office says acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, are ineligible to run the agency under the Vacancy Reform Act.
It was not clear what effects the determination would have on DHS, an agency that has acting officials in a number of prominent roles and is at the forefront of key administration initiatives on immigration and law enforcement.
The report does not carry the force of law, though it could be a factor in lawsuits challenging administration policies or influence members of Congress.
DHS rejected the finding.
“We wholeheartedly disagree with the GAO’s baseless report and plan to issue a formal response to this shortly,” the agency said in a written response to The Associated Press.
The Government Accountability Office said it has asked the DHS inspector general, a Trump appointee, to review the situation and determine if the violation affects decisions they have taken.
Wolf should step down and return to the position he previously held in the department and Cuccinelli should resign, according to Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
U.S.-Canada border: The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to nonessential travel for at least another month, Canada’s public safety minister said Friday.
The statement by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair came a day after Mexico announced a similar measure for its border with the United States.
The land border restrictions aimed at controlling the coronavirus pandemic were first announced in March and have been renewed monthly.
Many Canadians fear a reopening. Canada has flattened the epidemic curve while the U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any other country.
Essential cross-border workers like health care professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Much of Canada’s food supply comes from or via the U.S.
Americans who are returning to the United States and Canadians who are returning to Canada are also exempted from the border closure.
Canada sends 75% of its exports to the U.S. and about 18% of American exports go to Canada. The U.S. Canada border is world’s longest between two nations.
U.N. rejection: The United States said Friday that the U.N. Security Council has rejected an American resolution to indefinitely extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the defeat of the resolution ahead of a council meeting to reveal the vote.
The Trump administration has said repeatedly it will not allow the arms embargo provision in the Security Council resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers to expire as scheduled Oct. 18.
Trump’s brother: President Donald Trump on Friday paid a visit to his younger brother, Robert Trump, at a New York City hospital where he has been admitted.
The president entered New York-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan wearing a face mask Friday afternoon.
“I hope he’s OK,” Trump said shortly before arriving at the hospital. “He’s having a tough time.”
The hospital visit came ahead of Trump’s scheduled weekend trip to his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The White House did not release details about why Robert Trump, 72, had been hospitalized, but officials said he was seriously ill.
“I have a wonderful brother. We’ve had a great relationship for a long time, from day one,” Trump told reporters before departing for New York. “He’s in the hospital right now, and hopefully he’ll be all right.”
Robert Trump is one of the president’s four siblings.
California wildfires:
Bone-dry vegetation fueled three wildfires near Los Angeles amid warnings Friday that the risk of new blazes erupting was high as temperatures spike and humidity levels drop during a statewide heat wave.
A huge forest fire that prompted evacuations north of Los Angeles was just 12% contained and after threatening more than 5,400 homes, it had charred more than 18 square miles of brush and trees.
Record-breaking heat is possible through the weekend, with triple-digit temperatures and unhealthy air predicted for many parts of the state.