COVID-19 pandemic likely to compound expected U.S. census undercount of Latinos

Census undercount of Latino and African American communities could cost them billions in federal spending, say advocates

By Vanguardia

In Puerto Rico, only 8 percent of residents have completed the U.S. census.

In Texas, the congressional district with the highest percentage of Latinos in the country is far behind in its census tally.

Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela and other Latino leaders told The Hill that census outreach was a top priority in predominantly-Latino South Texas before the pandemic struck. "And then, boom! The COVID came and our efforts have been totally redirected to constituent services,” Vela said, adding “...everything's on fire, we're working on basic stuff, making sure people are fed.”

Nationwide, Latinos have been among the hardest hit by the rates of infection and death from COVID-19, and massive job losses tied to the pandemic. Nearly 20 percent of Latinos are out of work, as compared to 14.7 percent of the U.S. population overall. The pandemic and economic crisis have combined to convince many Latinos to put off filling out the census form.

Latino advocates say a substantial undercount was already anticipated when the Trump Administration tried but failed to add a citizenship question to the form. Many immigrants feared their information would be shared with federal immigration authorities.

Last year, the Supreme Court flatly rejected the administration’s arguments, but a recent survey by the NALEO Educational Fund found many Latinos still mistakenly think the census includes a citizenship question.

Thanks to an extension of the Census Bureau’s original deadlines, the once-a-decade count of every person in the U.S. must now be completed by October 31, and final results are due to the president by April 30, 2021.