Queens facing ‘real challenges’ in 2020 Census
BY ANDREINA RODRIGUEZ
With the 2020 Census on
the horizon, Congresswoman
Carolyn B. Maloney wants
to inform people about the
importance of a fair and
accurate count.
Maloney, who represents a
portion of western Queens and
Manhattan, held a town hall
meeting about the census on
March 16 at the Variety Boys
and Girls Club of Queens in
Long Island City.
Participating in the event
were speakers Melva Miller,
executive vice president of the
Association for a Better New
York; Natalia Aristizabal, codirector
of organizing of Make
the Road NY; Paul Westrick,
manager of democracy policy
of New York Immigration
Coalition; Jorge Fanjul, deputy
director for the Office of the
Census for New York City;
Jeff Wice, fellow of Rockefeller
Institute of Government;
and Jeff Behler, northeast
regional director of the U.S.
Census Bureau.
The Census is not just
a mere headcount of those
residing in the United States;
it also plays a big role in
funding for the community.
Census numbers also tie into
representation, as population
statistics are used to determine
the number of Congressional
seats in a state, and factors into
reapportionment of Assembly,
state Senate and City
Council seats.
Ten years ago, during the
last census, New York faced
the issue of an undercount
from the result of Queens and
Brooklyn. Because of this,
New York lost out on funding
and political power due to an
inaccurate count; it also cost
New York state two seats in
the House of Representatives.
“Queens faces some real
challenges in getting a full
count. There are areas in
Queens that are among
the hardest to count in the
country,” Westrick said.
“We know from studying in
previous Census efforts that
any one of those things makes
it difficult to get a full count.”
Behler explained that
many people refuse to give out
their information on surveys,
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (second from r.) hosted a town
hall meeting in Long Island City on March 16 about the 2020
Census. Photo via Twitter/@RepMaloney
fearing that it will be misused
for other purposes. The Census
only relies on demographics,
along with relationship to
people listed, tenure and
operational questions. He
aimed to assure everyone that
the Census messaging is safe,
easy and important.
“Title 13 of federal law
protects every piece of data
that we collect. We cannot, by
law, identify an individual,
nor household, nor can
any information collected
by the Census be used to
harm an individual,” he
said. “Homeland security,
immigration services, FBI,
CIA, no one can access
our data.”
Further complicating
the count is a proposed
citizenship question that the
Trump administration wants
to include in the 2020 Census,
and is being disputed in
federal court.
Maloney fears that the
question can result in an
undercount of residents in
the city as there are many
undocumented families present.
Wice added that a large
chunk of the western Queens
population is comprised of
undocumented, foreign-born
individuals, including 24
percent of the population of
Maloney’s 12th District and
35 percent of the population
in neighboring Elmhurst
and Corona.
“If you hear about the
citizenship question and
whether people respond to
it or not and you look at the
whole northwest corner of
Queens county, those are
serious numbers people might
not respond to the Census
— which could mean you’re
not going to see a shrinkage
of the size of the assembly
or senate but a movement of
where those districts are,”
Wice explained.
The decision will be
announced on June 6 and the
hearing will occur on April
23. Maloney encourages those
to write to Supreme Court
representing their districts
and organizations and ask for
a ticket to attend and listen to
the important decision.
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