Fearing undercount, states prepare for 2020 census push
LO S ANG E L ES» In a squat office building not far from downtown, Esperanza Guevara is getting ready to look for people who might not want to be found. Her job could get a lot harder.
The immigrant-rights activist is leading a drive to reach tens of thousands who entered the U.S. illegally and persuade them to participate in the 2020 census, the government’s once-adecade count of the population.
The Trump administration’s plan to use the census to inquire about each person’s citizenship has sent a chill through immigrant communities. Guevara and others fear the question could discourage participation and leave millions uncounted across the country.
Such concerns are concentrated in Democratic-led states with large immigrant populations. An inaccurate count could have real-world consequences, because billions in federal dollars and seats in Congress are allocated according to population.
In immigrant communities often wary of government, a question about citizenship status will make people “less likely to fill out the census form or even answer the door when someone comes knocking,” said Guevara, who works for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
Those concerns have been heightened by Trump’s rhetoric toward immigrants and by fears that census data could be used to find and deport people.
“Their first thought is, ‘Is this information going to be used against me?’ ” Guevara said.
Census Bureau chief Ron Jarmin said the agency is legally barred from sharing its information with law enforcement agencies, adding: “We are committed to ensuring that the data we collect are always protected.”
The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing a legal challenge seeking to strike the citizenship question from the census form. During arguments last week, the court’s conservative majority appeared ready to allow the question.
Colorado’s House recently endorsed spending $12 million to encourage participation in the census. The governors of Kansas and Nevada have moved to create committees devoted to making sure everyone takes part.
In New Mexico, where the state has launched a multimillion-dollar effort to ensure an accurate tally, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has warned that a 1 percent undercount could translate into more than $700 million in lost federal revenue over a decade.