JONATHAN BALLEW

AHEAD OF THE 2020 CENSUS OUTREACH GROUPS WORK TO COMBAT FEAR IN UNDOCUMENTED COMMUNITIES

By Jonathan Ballew

With the 2020 Census on the cusp of kicking off, thousands of census workers are mobilizing across the country, readying themselves to try and complete an impossible task: counting every person in America. 

But undocumented immigrants — one of America’s most vulnerable communities — is at risk of not being counted. Advocates say that looming fears over immigration status may prevent undocumented people from participating in the 2020 Census, causing their communities to lose out of vital resources. 

“The Census is so important because funds and political representation are allocated based on population and not immigration status,” said Gabe Gonzalez, founder of Protect Rogers Park.

Protect Rogers Park was founded by Gonzalez in 2016 in the wake of the election of President Trump. Gonzalez, along with some of his neighbors and fellow activists, were worried about the undocumented members of their community. 

The organization has transformed into a rapid mobilization group that works mainly on disrupting raids from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Gonzalez will not even say how many raids they have disrupted because he does not want ICE to know what information his organization does and does not have. 

Protect Rogers Park has done extensive “know your rights” training in the neighborhood, advising undocumented people not to open the door for ICE without a proper warrant. 

But when it comes to the 2020 Census, Gonzalez said the very same mentality that keeps undocumented folks safe from ICE raids, becomes a potential hindrance when dealing with the Census.

“This year in particular there is a much larger concern,” he said. “And that is because the Trump Administration made a big deal about the citizenship question on the Census.”

Earlier last year, Trump made headlines when he openly worked to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Although the effort was ultimately abandoned by Trump, advocates for undocumented people say the attempt was enough to inspire a culture of fear.

By law, the Census Bureau can only produce statistics with the answers they receive. According to their website at census.gov, staff members take a lifetime oath, swearing to protect personal information. In fact, violation of that oath can come with prison time and hefty fines.

But the undocumented community has a healthy skepticism of promises from the government, said Gonzalez. 

“After the lies they have seen, who could blame them?” said Gonzalez, referring to inconsistent policy in the Trump administration that can often change by the hour. 

Earlier in February, Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia held a press conference with local leaders, highlighting the issues ahead of the 2020 Census.

“The attempt at intimidation has a clear purpose,” he said in a press conference in February. “It is to intimidate our neighbors who are Latinos, African Americans, Asian American communities, in particular, not to open their doors.”

“This fear is very real,” said David Louridas, Civic Engagement & Policy Manager for The Resurrection Project, a nonprofit that focuses on working with immigrant populations. From humble beginnings in 1990, the organization has grown into a powerhouse that is able to buy up developments and work to provide affordable housing. 

Louridas said most of his organization’s work spans the Pilsen and Back Of The Yards neighborhoods — both of which have a high concentration of immigrant and undocumented communities. 

“We’ve been telling them for so long not to open the doors, and now obviously we have to tell them the opposite,” he said. 

Louridas said The Resurrection Project plans to combat this fear by hiring an outreach team that looks like the community. He said most of the people canvassing the neighborhoods and knocking on doors are either Latinx or at the very least speak excellent Spanish.

“It’s about building trust and creating an environment of safety,” he said. “People trust their neighbors far more than they do an unknown government worker.”

But like most things in America right now, COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is throwing a wrench into everyone’s plans. Louridas said most of their key outreach meetings have been canceled and everything is “up in the air right now.”

Louridas said it is unclear how the delay from a global pandemic might affect the Census going forward. But he wondered if it could actually help the undocumented community by buying time. 

If the Census ends up being delayed, it only gives outreach workers more time to educate and mobilize communities, he said. 

Mauricio Peña is a reporter who covers immigrant communities both in Pilsen and Back Of The Yards. He said community workshops have been key to educating undocumented communities on the South and West Side. 

Peña said that based on his reporting he has a lot of concern about whether efforts to reach undocumented communities will be enough to counter the fear put in place by the Trump administration. 

“I think that a lot of people are still going to be uncounted, because of the fear," he said. "Right now there's a lot of uncertainty, especially because of the coronavirus."

But despite the challenges facing these communities, the State of Illinois is pumping millions into ensuring every citizen is counted. With Illinois experiencing a mass exodus of many of its citizens, they are very likely to lose a congressional seat in the House of Representatives.

Peña said this means it is likely that 2020 Census workers will be doing everything possible to count historically difficult populations. This means populations like undocumented people, those experiencing homelessness and babies all become cruicially important to ensure the state receives funding. 

Louridas said one of the best ways to invite 2020 Census particpation from undocumented immigrants is to offer them alternative ways to be counted.

“We are saying to them, look, if you fill out the census online then you are less likely to have any government officials knocking on your door, “ he said. “That seems to resonate.”

Louridas said it remains to be seen what effect census outreach will have on the undocumented community, which is historically undercounted. 

“We just hope our efforts make a difference,” he said. 

With a President who is often hostile to immigrants, a historic 2020 election and the Coronavirus, the status of the 2020 Census is currently the same as most undocumented people. Uncertain.