Atlanta, GA, August 6, 2020 — Georgia advocates across the state are angered by the latest move by the Trump Administration to limit census participation of black, brown, and immigrant communities. After granting an extension for Census completion in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration recently instructed the United States Census Bureau to complete the 2020 Census activities a month early, by September 30, 2020.

“Black, brown and immigrant communities have been ravaged by COVID-19, violent and racist policing and repeated attempts to attack our voting rights. The last thing any elected official should do in this unprecedented time is seek to disrupt an accurate and full census count of our communities—thereby sabotaging our state’s chance to receive federal resources Georgia families desperately depend on. Congress must protect the 2020 Census by including an extension of the Congressional reporting deadline in the next COVID-19 bill,” states Stephanie Cho, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta.

This past spring, the Trump administration originally announced an extension for residents to complete their census by October 31, 2020. Currently, only 58.7% of the state’s population has completed the 2020 Census. Ending operations early puts Georgia at risk for losing millions in federal funding over the next 10 years.

A successful 2020 Census requires following up with those who do not respond on their own. A shorter census timeline will make it impossible to count every household. Door knocking disproportionately covers the historically undercounted communities in Georgia and this move severely limits door-to-door enumeration.

The census is not a partisan issue—an undercount in Georgia fails the whole state. Make no mistake, as Georgians across the state prepare to vote in the November general election, we are watching very closely the actions of current US Senators to stand up for our communities across the state. Our Senators must act immediately to extend the statutory reporting deadlines for congressional apportionment data and give the Census Bureau the time it has said it needs to complete the count.

We implore all Georgians to call Senators Leoffler and Purdue and demand an extension for the completion of the census in this great time of need. Now more than ever, it is critically important for all Georgians to fill out the census and help other households to do so, in a safe and socially distanced manner.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler. (202) 224-3643. 131 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510. Contact: www.loeffler.senate.gov.

Sen. David Perdue. (202) 224-3521. 455 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510. Contact: www.perdue.senate.gov/connect/email.

Signed:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta
Atlanta Sikh Community
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
Black Voters Matter GA
Boat People S.O.S. - Atlanta
Burmese Rohingya Community of Georgia (BRCG)
CAIR Georgia
Center for Pan Asian Community Services, Inc. (CPACS)
Coalition of Latino Leaders-CLILA
Common Cause Georgia
Environment Georgia
Faith in Public Life
Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO)
Georgia Muslim Voter Project (GAMVP)
Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda
Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV)
Georgia Equality
Georgia WAND
Georgia Stand Up
Korean American Chamber of Commerce of Atlanta-Georgia
KOWIN Atlanta GA -Korean Women International Network
Laotian American National Alliance
Latino Community Fund - Georgia
League of Women Voters of Georgia, Inc.
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)
ProGeorgia
Refugee Women’s Network
Rep GA Institute, Inc.
Somali American Community Center
Southeast Immigrant Rights Network
Wake Up, Atlanta
Women Watch Afrika, Inc. (WWA)