Groups Band Together to Protect Confidentiality of Census Data

More than 275 stakeholders on Monday unveiled a watchdog coalition pledging to help monitor and protect the confidentiality of 2020 Census data.

The coalition, led by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), The Leadership Conference Education Fund, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, will fight to safeguard confidentiality requirements, and to assure people that they should participate in the census and secure resources important for their family and community without worry.

“Unfortunately, there is a general mistrust of government among various groups of citizens and non-citizens in the immigrant community, as well as other hard to count community members, that may make it difficult to ensure a full count of Pasadena residents,’’ Mayor Terry Tornek said in a report to City Council members prior to a vote in February by the council regarding the city’s efforts to guarantee confidentiality.

Children, undocumented immigrants, racial/ethnic minorities and people experiencing homelessness are among the least likely to be counted accurately due in large part to a distrust in government and risk losing their fair share of political power and resources.

In a local resolution, the council vowed to monitor for any breach of census data confidentiality, use the City Council’s collective power and influence to prevent, block, and/or bring an end to any breach of the currently established guarantee and understanding of the confidentiality of data collected as part of the 2020 census and emphasize publicly the critical importance of continued census safety and security.

Federal law requires the Census Bureau to protect any personal and household information it collects and bars it from sharing such information with any other government agencies, including the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and law enforcement.

Census data are crucial to allocating seats in Congress, drawing accurate election districts, and ensuring equitable distribution of federal funds for a wide range of vital programs including schools, hospitals, and other social services.

“Heightened distrust in elements of the federal government is a threat to our nation’s ability to secure an accurate census, which is so critical to our democracy’s next decade,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel in a prepared statement. “This Census data confidentiality protection pledge provides reassurance to all – including hardworking Census Bureau staff themselves — that powerful forces outside of government are working together to protect data confidentiality and the integrity of Census 2020.”

The coalition is working to boost responses among communities that have been historically undercounted by reassuring households that not only are the Census confidentiality protections in law the strongest in the nation, but that the coalition is poised to help enforce them so personal information remains protected from any potential threat of disclosure.

“We continue to hear concerns reverberating through communities of color, particularly the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, about the confidentiality of their information when filling out the 2020 Census but we are here to provide reassurance,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. “For a community that includes undocumented immigrants and individuals in mixed-status households, it is imperative to remind them about the legal protections that will protect their responses to the 2020 Census. We have had to fight for a fair and accurate census before and we will do it again if necessary.”