Members of North Carolina’s Latino community say those who are in the country illegally will be even more fearful of filling out the 2020 census after President Trump released a memo saying the census would exclude undocumented immigrants.
According to the American Immigration Council, more than 200,000 people in the state live with at least one person who is an undocumented immigrant.
The census determines education funding and social services. It also determines how many representatives a state gets in Congress — and North Carolina is eligible to increase that number.
Immigrants and communities of color are historically undercounted, but the memo also comes at a time when response rates are lower due to COVID-19.
Daniel Valdez is the director of the Hispanic Federation’s North Carolina Mid-South Operations. Valdez said this latest announcement intimidates people to not fill out their census.
“We’re going to continue to bring that message to our community that these are tactics that are being used by the administration to instill fear, confusion in our communities -- particularly in our immigrant communities," Valdez said. "We need to double-down on our efforts to make sure that our communities are being counted here in Mecklenburg County, across the state and across the country.”
Recent estimates from the Census Bureau show Latinos now make up 14% of Mecklenburg County’s population.
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