ReWA partners with Census 2020 so refugee communities get counted!
In the last Census, the under-count cost King County hundreds of millions in federal funding. This year, ReWA is partnering with Census 2020 to make sure historically under-counted refugee and immigrant communities get their fair share of resources for education, housing, transportation, and more.
On March 12, the Census 2020 form will be available online in Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. However, there is a heightened concern about how the data is used, especially within immigrant and refugee communities.
Here are some facts that might surprise you:
- The Census has been used since 1790 to count everyone in this country and determine how federal funding is distributed to states.
- The 2010 under-count cost Rainier Valley, Kent and SeaTac $600 million dollars in funding for schools, housing, health care, and other programs that support ReWA clients.
- The Census consists of 10 questions and DOES NOT include a question about citizenship
- Also, according to U.S. Law (Title 13), the names of respondents are removed from the other data, and the U.S. Census Bureau is prohibited from sharing data with other agencies before the names are removed.
Learn more: Census 2020 timeline