Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau is required to count every person living in the United States. Census data is used to determine funding allocations for a wide variety of government programs, as well as political representation in Congress and other levels of government. During these unprecedented times, it is absolutely critical that everyone completes the nine questions of the Census questionnaire.

For every uncounted person, California will lose $1,000 each year in federal funding for the next 10 years, as well as lose seats in Congress. Given the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on the Latinx community, who account for 60 percent of California’s COVID-19 cases, the need for critical resources for our Latinx community—for healthcare, food assistance, affordable housing, and so much more—is imperative. 

It has always been challenging to ensure that the Census counts everyone. Racial and ethnic minorities, non-English speakers, immigrants and seniors have historically been undercounted and not received their fair share of resources. In 2010, while I served as President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, San Francisco invested local funding to focus on our “hard to count” populations, and we were the only county in the state to avoid a drop in those numbers. As a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, I fought along with my Latino colleagues to include $187 million in our state budget for outreach and education related to the 2020 Census, particularly for our immigrant communities. 

As part of his war on immigrants, Donald Trump has done everything he can to discourage Census participation by immigrant communities, but we are fighting back. As a former immigrant rights’ attorney, I never expected to become a plaintiff in lawsuits against a U.S. President, but that has now happened twice. In 2018, I joined a lawsuit that successfully blocked Trump’s attempt to add a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. This summer, I became a plaintiff in a second lawsuit challenging Trump’s decision to shorten the time frame of the Census count and to exclude the counting of undocumented immigrants.  

Assemblymember David Chiu.

As Trump tries to instill fear among immigrants, we must educate our communities that Census responses are confidential and cannot be shared with any government agency. Census information is protected by Title 13 of the U.S. Code, and disclosing or publishing any private information is punishable by a $250,000 fine, five years in federal prison, or both. Sensitive information about one’s income, political affiliation, religion, and citizenship status are not included in the Census questionnaire.

In its last-ditch attempt to undercount communities of color and immigrants, the Trump Administration shortened the deadline to fill out the Census. The Census now needs to be completed by September 30—just a few weeks from now. Please join our efforts to make sure our communities count and our voices are lifted. You can fill out the Census when a Census worker comes to your door, but the easiest way to fill it out is online or over the phone. You can fill out the Census at My2020Census.gov or by calling 844-330-2020 (English) or 844-468-2020 (Spanish).