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(June 27) – The members of the Colorado Democratic Latinx Legislative Caucus issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision this morning to refer the addition of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census back to the lower courts. Latinx are the second largest population group in the country and represent over 21 percent of Colorado’s population.
“Over the course of the litigation around placing a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. Census, it became clear that the Trump administration proactively sought to limit the political power of Latinx communities and other communities of color. That is unacceptable and wrong. Today’s Supreme Court decision rightly determined that the administration hasn’t shown enough justification for adding the question, but the fight isn’t over – a lower court will still have to weigh in.
“However this ultimately turns out, it will be more important than ever to stand up and be counted in the census. For every person who sits out the census, our state and our communities stand to lose critical federal funds for major programs such as health care, transportation, and education. Our representational democracy is also at stake, because the census counts play a central role in determining how many Congressional representatives Colorado deserves. We know this fight is not over. In order to protect our communities, our future, and our Colorado way of life, we ask our communities to stay vigilant as we watch the proceedings of the lower courts and to stand up and participate in the census.”
Valid census data is tied to billions of dollars of federal funding allocations for Colorado. For example, the state received over $93 million in federal funding for Head Start programs supporting early childhood education and nearly $34 million in Community Development Block Grants for FY16 due to accurate Census data.
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