The 35th Congressional District is one of the
hardest to count in the country
The town hall brought together representatives from the U.S. Census Bureau, local elected officials, community-based organizations, educational institutions, the business community, and members of the public
ONTARIO, CA — U.S. Representative Norma J. Torres
(D-Pomona) recently convened a town hall at the Southwest Regional Council of
Carpenters, Local 909 to discuss the importance of the upcoming 2020 Census
with representatives from the U.S. Census Bureau, the NALEO Educational Fund,
the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, the County of Los Angeles, The
Community Foundation, the Warehouse Workers Resource Center, First 5 San
Bernardino, the County of San Bernardino Preschool Services Department, and
members of the public. California’s 35th Congressional District
is one of the hardest to count in the country, with approximately 231,300
people or 31 percent of the district living in hard-to-count neighborhoods.
This is the second town hall Torres has held on the 2020 Census. The first
forum connected community partners with resources to promote participation in
the 2020 Census.
During the town hall, Torres and the participants
discussed how information collected by the Census is protected under U.S. Code
Title 13. In light of concerns over the Trump administration’s proposed
citizenship question in the census, U.S. Code Title 13 requires the Census
Bureau to keep any information collected from respondents confidential and
strictly used only for statistical purposes. This information may not be shared
with any government agencies, including law enforcement. The town hall also
touched on challenges surrounding the undercount of children, resources to
increase access to online questionnaires in Los Angeles County and the Inland
Empire, and employment opportunities available with the Bureau.
“I’m committed to making sure that every person in our
community is counted in the census—just as the Constitution mandates. The
census determines so much for the hard-working families in my district and
throughout the Inland Empire. From how many federal dollars go to improving our
schools, to access to affordable, quality healthcare and strengthening the
roads we drive on and the availability of affordable housing,” said Torres. “This town hall helped connect
residents with the resources and knowledge they’ll need to be prepared and
engaged for the 2020 Census. I’m grateful to all of our partners for their
participation. It’s up to all of us to make sure every Californian is counted.”
“The 2020 Census is important, and partners are critical to
its success. The goal of the Census is to count everyone once, only once and in
the right place,” said Julie
Lam, Census Bureau Los Angeles Regional Director. “By mid-March 2020,
every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census with
three options for responding: online, by phone, or by mail. It’s against the
law for us to publicly release your responses in any way that could identify
you or your household.”
“Latino children suffered a 7.1% undercount rate, which is
significantly higher than the 4.3% rate among non-Latino children. San
Bernardino county had the fifth largest percent of undercounted very young
Latino children of any county in California during the 2010 Census,” said Adan Chavez, Regional Census Campaign Manager in the
Inland Empire for the NALEO Educational Fund. “When young children are
not counted, our families and communities cannot get important resources and
services like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Head Start, and
the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program. NALEO
Educational Fund’s Hazme Contar campaign will help our communities avoid a
devastating undercount of Latino children and we are going to continue to work
closely with NALEO Member and Congresswoman Norma Torres to ensure the best
count possible.”
“The Southwest Carpenters want to thank Representative
Torres for her leadership on this important issue,” said Dan Langford, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Southwest
Regional Council of Carpenters. “Representation matters for working
people, and the Carpenters will continue to be part of the solution by
educating our members and their families about the importance of participating
in the 2020 Census.”
Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution requires
the Census Bureau to conduct a census every ten years to count every resident
in the U.S. The data collected by the census determines how billions in federal
funds are distributed to local communities, as well as the number of seats each
state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. The 2020 Census will begin on
April 1, 2020.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Torres
helped pass legislation that blocked the Trump administration’s proposal to add
a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. She also worked to increase funding
for the Census Bureau to $8.45 billion in the Fiscal Year 2020 Appropriations
Funding Bill to ensure that the Bureau can conduct a thorough and accurate
census that counts all persons, as required by the Constitution. This funding
enables the Bureau to carry out the largest and most technologically advanced
decennial census in its 230-year history.