New York, NY-On Monday afternoon, the Supreme Court set aside a Ninth Circuit court order that extended counting efforts for the 2020 Census through October 31, allowing the Trump administration to end counting soon. SCOTUS’ decision could mean that all counting efforts and outreach will end in the next few days.
In response to SCOTUS’ decision, Meeta Anand, the Census 2020 Senior Fellow for the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement.
“The Supreme Court’s decision hurts, but it is not the fatal blow to an accurate 2020 Census count the Trump administration clearly hopes. For more than a year, there has been a statewide New York Census operation, which understood that it was up against an administration that would do everything it could to keep immigrant New Yorkers from being counted, and acted accordingly. Thanks to the litigation to date, our partners used every minute, hour, and day of almost two extra weeks to ensure that every New Yorker—regardless of legal status, age, or country of origin—were counted. Now, we must build on that momentum and finish the last few days of the 2020 Census New York strong! We also need Congress to act immediately to extend statutory reporting deadlines to ensure accurate data. At stake are trillions of federal dollars and political representation for millions of us, particularly our most vulnerable communities. New Yorkers will need these resources and political power to beat back the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild an economy reflective of our vibrant and diverse communities.”
Four Fast Facts About the 2020 Census
- The 2020 Census is not over! We don’t know yet when the Census Bureau is winding down operations. Until then you can respond online to be counted here: my2020census.gov. Census door-knockers are still conducting interviews of New York households that did not self-respond. If someone knocks on your door and says that they are a Census worker, ask to see their ID, and know that you are safe to share information about your household size, race, address and the names of those residing with you with them for the purposes of the 2020 Census. There is no reason they should require your social security number or any other similar identifying information. Sample questions from the 2020 Census are here: https://2020census.gov/en/about-questions.html
- By law, the U.S. government is constitutionally required to count the number of people living in the United States every 10 years. The Census is critically important in determining how billions of dollars of federal dollars are allocated to states for local schools, hospitals, libraries, businesses, and more, as well as for ensuring New York’s representation in Congress. All New Yorkers from all backgrounds, regardless of immigration status, must be counted—this includes children, seniors, people who are homeless or undocumented, and people of all nationalities.
- The Census is safe, secure and confidential. No individual’s data can be shared with any other government agencies by law—and that includes no data sharing is allowed with the Department of Homeland Security.
- There is no citizenship question on the 2020 Census. The New York Immigration Coalition and allies fought the Trump administration all the way to the Supreme Court to block the blatant attempt to politicize the Census with a citizenship question.