Ocasio-Cortez Urges Pelham Bay to Get Counted

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and her team handed out backpacks with school supplies and bags of food in Pelham Bay Park on a Saturday afternoon. They hoped to get people in her district to fill out the U.S. Census forms.

New York’s 14^th Congressional District historically has been undercounted. Only 64 percent of constituents in the district responded to the last census. So far only 59 percent of the people in the district have filled out the forms. The Trump Administration shortened the census deadline  to September 30. But a California federal appeals court judge blocked that temporarily and allowed the count to continue until October 31. The Justice Department filed notice that it will appeal. In the meantime, about 290,000 people remain uncounted in Ocasio-Cortez’s district.

The U.S. Census counts households and determines how much money will go to a district and how many representatives to Congress a state should have. But the Trump administration has worked to undermine the count in states like New York where there are a lot of immigrants. In July the Trump administration tried to exclude immigrants from the count. But New York’s attorney general joined other states and with the ACLU sued to stop that plan. A federal appeals court agreed with them. But the Trump administration continues to fight in the courts.

So, on this sunny afternoon, Representative Ocasio-Cortez greeted residents whose children excitedly opened the backpacks her staff handed out. They peeked inside and pulled out notebooks and a pencil case while Ocasio-Cortez talked with the parents.

The congresswoman reassured her constituents that the census is safe. “Everything that you fill out remains confidential,” she said. “This year there has been fear about filling out the census. People are hesitant to fill out a form with questions from the government and that, with just the lack of education of what the census is, how safe it is and who’s supposed to fill it out, creates resistance around answering,” Ocasio-Cortez explained.

She directed residents to another table where two members of her team helped people fill out the forms. When more residents approached to take pictures, the congresswoman welcomed them.

She told HarlemView, “It’s important that people hear information from someone they trust. When people start to hear it from a pastor or a neighbor it creates a trust factor and people will fill it out more. We face challenges from this administration, but we want to assure that the census is safe.”

David Diaz, an Ocasio-Cortez field organizer, told HarlemView, “People don’t think it’s essential, that being counted brings money into our communities and keeps our representation where it is. Once you explain to people what the census is and what it does, like it gives $6,200 in federal funding per person counted, then they understand,” he said passionately.