Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez issued the following statement on the memorandum signed by President Trump today that would bar the U.S. Census Bureau from counting undocumented immigrants in the 2020 Census:
“The United States Constitution requires a full count of all people living in America, not just those the President believes belong here.
“The notion to exclude undocumented individuals is preposterous and a xenophobic effort to sideline, again, a culture and community whose significant growth and contributions has helped to redefine this nation.
“This is another attempt to instill fear in the Latino Community and throw off the Census count. First, the citizen question, now this. Without the question, how is possible to know the status of person’s citizenship?
“Continue to encourage family and friends to fill out the census without fear. We need to concentrate on getting a full, complete count more than ever now.
“Fair and just representation is at risk if we do not count everyone and use that full count of all individuals in America to determine how much our communities receive for schools, housing, public safety programs, etc. If we do not count everyone, we lose access to the fair representation on both state and federal levels.”