Census 2020

A state commission to oversee the 2020 census count for New York State adopted its action plan Tuesday. But immigrant rights groups worry that it’s too little, too late.

Two growing populations in Central New York, new Americans and the elderly, are also typically undercounted in the census. The amount of federal dollars the area will receive depends on an accurate count of these populations.

Syracuse and Onondaga County officials are trying to find the best way to get as thorough a census count as possible.  They announced the area’s Complete Count Committee on Wednesday.  It will utilize community groups to try and encourage participation in neighborhoods or among demographic groups that are usually hard to count. 

The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling in the final days of June that keeps the citizenship question off of the 2020 Census. While Census Bureau research shows that a citizenship question could significantly reduce response rates, it’s only one of many groups that are at risk of being undercounted.

There’s growing concern that the lack of high-speed internet access among low income urban and rural households, immigrants, and other minority populations might leave them undercounted in the upcoming census.  That’ll be the focus of a summit Wednesday hosted by the Central New York Digital Inclusion Coalition.  Co-chair and director of the LaFayette Public Library Scott Kushner says the census bureau will start by sending postcards that direct residents to a website. 

The physical distribution of the Census in Syracuse won’t start until April of next year, but planning for the count is starting now. The 2020 census is mixed up in a Supreme Court case over a citizenship question and faces the challenge of being the first primarily digital census count.