Getting a full count of Long Islanders for the 2020 Census will be difficult. It has pockets of hard-to-count groups, like low-income households, undocumented immigrants and transient workers.
Now local officials say the federal government has made some immigrant residents afraid, and they warn an undercount could be dire.
Nassau County receives $675 billion a year in federal funds. The money pays for road repairs, school lunches, affordable housing, public schools and economic development grants. But the funding depends on the number of residents who respond to the census.
County Executive Laura Curran says a fear of ICE and the Trump administration’s fight to have a citizenship question on the Census has made the headcount more difficult.
“There is a lot of fear in our immigrant communities, in people who are undocumented, who are going to be afraid to be counted. Just the climate in the country in general has caused fear, our concern is that more and more people will go deeper into the shadows and not be counted.”
Officials say the communities that are difficult to count are the ones that could benefit from federal funding the most. U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi of Long Island says the fear is spreading.
“It’s not just undocumented persons that are afraid right now. Even documented immigrants are scared right now of being counted.”
He also says that an undercount could mean fewer congressional seats for New York.
Officials emphasize that answering the Census is completely safe, and their information is protected by law.
