As you have probably heard, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced this week that they will be adding a question to the 2020 Census that asks if you are a US citizen. We know that adding a citizenship question will heighten a climate of fear and cause both citizens and non-citizens to not fill out the Census which will have lasting effects on public funding and congressional districts.
Read the Human Impact Partners blog for more information on what we are paying attention to in the Census and how it could impact health and equity.
We promised we would keep you updated about advocacy efforts and there is a lot of work to be done in the coming months. Congress has the ability to overturn this decision and so the focus of national advocacy groups is on Congress.
What you can do:
Contact your state and local elected officials (governor, state legislators, county officials) and urge them to put pressure on their congressional representatives to overturn this decision
Call your members of Congress and ask them to overturn this decision (House, Senate)
What health departments can do:
Health departments can work with legislative staff to educate local elected officials about the importance of the Census for health and equity and urge them to contact their congressional representatives to overturn this decision.
Attached are key talking points and a factsheet that were put together by some of the national advocacy groups working on a fair and accurate count for the 2020 Census.
This will be a long fight and there will be many more opportunities for action. Along with the newly formed Public Health Awakened steering committee, we are exploring the possibility of putting together a Public Health Awakened workgroup that can create our own materials and identify specific ways for public health to engage in this fight as well as other advocacy efforts related to the 2020 Census. If you are interested in a workgroup or an initial conversation on this topic, please email me directly at sari@humanimpact.org.