COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO ENSURE THAT NEW MEXICO FAMILIES GET FAIR SHARE IN 2020 CENSUS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, April 1, 2019

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO ENSURE THAT NEW MEXICO FAMILIES GET FAIR SHARE IN 2020 CENSUS

NM Community Engagement Complete Count Committee (NMCECCC) is calling for an accurate 2020 Census to ensure that New Mexico gets the resources we need to grow and flourish

Albuquerque, N.M.– Exactly one year out from Census Day, NMCECCC and people across New Mexico are demanding a fair and accurate count for all our communities. The 2020 Census will determine how more than $800 billion in federal funding is allocated each year. The census is critical for figuring out what our communities need to be healthier, safer and more successful. We have to make sure everyone is counted, and we have to start preparing now.

In 2016, N.M. received $7.8 billion in federal dollars based on census data, including $4.3 billion in Medicaid, $380 million in highway planning and construction and $44.8 million for the school lunch program. More information about funding derived from census data can be found here.

“The Center for Civic Policy is committed to ensuring a fair and accurate 2020 Census. The 2020 Census will determine how the government spends over $800 billion in federal dollars,” said Oriana Sandoval, CEO for the Center for Civic Policy. “We deserve to know that our tax dollars will make it back to our communities. The last time we had a census was 2010, and our communities and needs are different now than they were then. Our communities thrive when everyone participates and shows up.”

“The future of rural New Mexico is at stake in the upcoming census,” said Marcela Díaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido. “That is why our members will work to ensure their communities are not undercounted and that the growing political representation of Latino and immigrant populations in rural communities across our state is not undercut. If those vulnerable communities are undercounted, all of New Mexico will pay the price.”

“According to the Census Bureau population estimates, there were nearly 50,730 Asian Americans and 6,430 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders living in New Mexico in 2017,” said Anni Leming, civic engagement coordinator for the NM Asian Family Center. “The more households we count, the more resources and representation our diverse AANHPI communities throughout New Mexico will receive for the next decade. If you care about funding for schools, jobs, housing, and healthy communities, please participate in the census to ensure you, your family, and communities are fully counted in 2020.”

“For children to grow up healthy they need access to health care and nutritious food. Funding for programs like Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), and school lunches are based on the census, and many of our children rely on them,” said James Jimenez, executive director of NM Voices for Children. “An undercount as small as 1 percent could cost the state $600 million over the next decade. When parents aren’t counted, neither are their children.”

Communities miss out on political power and needed funding if everyone is not counted. That’s why, today, groups are elevating the importance of the 2020 Census. Civil rights groups and health care providers, immigrant rights advocates and organizations that fight for young kids, groups that represent the black community and groups that represent AAPI communities are all committed to ensuring that everyone is counted.

That’s why NMCECCC is working alongside Census Counts, a diverse, nationwide coalition working to ensure that the 2020 Census is fair and accurate.

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