Georgia advocates across the state are angered by the latest move by the Trump Administration to limit census participation of black, brown, and immigrant communities. After granting an extension for Census completion in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration recently instructed the United States Census Bureau to complete the 2020 Census activites a month early, by September 30, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBlack, brown and immigrant communities have been ravaged by COVID-19, violent and racist policing and repeated attempts to attack our voting rights. The last thing any elected official should do in this unprecedented time is seek to disrupt an accurate and full census count of our communities \u2014 thereby sabotaging our state\u2019s chance to receive federal resources Georgia families desperately depend on. Congress must protect the 2020 Census by including an extension of the Congressional reporting deadline in the next COVID-19 bill,\u201d <\/strong>states Stephanie Cho, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice \u2013 Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This past spring, the Trump Administration originally announced an extension for residents to complete their census by October 31, 2020. Currently, only 58.7% of the state\u2019s population has completed the 2020 Census. Ending operations early puts Georgia at risk for losing millions in federal funding over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A successful 2020 Census requires following up with those who do not respond on their own. A shorter census timeline will make it impossible to count every household. Door knocking disproportionately covers the historically undercounted communities in Georgia and this move severely limits door-to-door enumeration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The census is not a partisan issue \u2014 an undercount in Georgia fails the whole state. Make no mistake, as Georgians across the state prepare to vote in the November general election, we are watching very closely the actions of current US Senators to stand up for our communities across the state. Our Senators must act immediately to extend the statutory reporting deadlines for congressional apportionment data, and give the Census Bureau the time it has said it needs<\/em> to complete the count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We implore all Georgians to call Senators Leoffler and Purdue and demand an extension for the completion of census in this great time of need. Now more than ever, it is critically important for all Georgians to fill out the census and help other households to do so, in a safe and socially distanced manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Kelly Loeffler<\/p>\n\n\n\n (202) 224-3643<\/p>\n\n\n\n 131 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510<\/p>\n\n\n\n