The will begin next year. But there鈥檚 plenty about it that might make some folks nervous in New Mexico. Just last week, the asked the state for access to citizenship data through driver鈥檚 license info. , it wouldn鈥檛 turn over the records. A local policy group says these tactics should not stop folks here from participating in the census.
Many states around the country are turning down the bureau鈥檚 request for citizenship data鈥攁 back-door attempt to get the info after the courts blocked the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 10-year count. But these ongoing efforts are meant to generate fear so people will avoid being counted, said Isaac De Luna from the .
"This is very much an attempt to discourage people of color, immigrants, low-income families from participating," he said, "because this is the way that some people can continue to gain or retain power while others are excluded from the process."
The census is used in , and it鈥檚 also part of for how much federal funding comes to the state for education, Medicaid, food assistance, roads鈥攜ou name it. For each person who doesn鈥檛 get counted, De Luna said, New Mexico loses thousands of federal dollars, and an undercount could cost the state hundreds of millions over the next decade.
