Politician Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda have released a promotional video to encourage the New York immigrant community to participate in the census, which is held every ten years in the United States, and which is closely linked to federal aid and political representation of each state in the federal Congress.
“You already know that the census is a count of all the people who live in the United States, regardless of your immigration status. It’s how our communities receive billions of dollars for programs we all depend on,” says the federal representative Democrat Ocasio-Cortez before a class of students from different communities.
“By law it cannot be shared with anyone, not even with government agencies,” said the New York congresswoman in an attempt to encourage undocumented immigrants to participate.
Authorities and NGOs have expressed concern that a large part of this large community refrain from fear that their data will end up in the hands of immigration services, which have redoubled their efforts to repatriate the undocumented.
The campaign will start on March 12 and, as Ocasio-Cortez explains, it can be completed by phone or online at the address “ny2020census.gov”.
“The census only happens every 10 years. The year 2020 is our opportunity to do it well; do not miss your opportunity to do it well,” concludes Ocasio-Cortez, who this year will try to renew his position in the House of Representatives after his victory of 2018, achieved after unexpectedly overthrowing veteran Joseph Crowley in the primary elections of the Democratic Party.
According to several studies, the new census could mean for New York the loss of two representatives in the United States Congress, so the state authorities, of democratic majority, have been trying for months to raise awareness of the population to participate in the survey of population.
