Our Statement on Administration's Severely Flawed Plans for Census Testing

"Our communities are being erased in real time - first from our streets through aggressive immigration enforcement, and now from the data that determine political power and public investment for the next decade.

"Two years ago, the Census Bureau set forth plans for a 2026 census test that was intended to be a field test of Census 2030 operations. Last week, the Bureau abruptly released - without stakeholder engagement - a drastic proposal to change its testing plan. These changes include testing a citizenship question, dramatically reducing the number of testing sites from six to just two, testing in areas without a substantial Latino population, and other significant changes. If the Bureau proceeds with these plans, it will fail to obtain reliable information on how to reach hard-to-count communities, including Latinos - particularly very young Latino children who have experienced persistent and growing undercounts.

"This is unacceptable and would set the Bureau up to fail in 2030 by sabotaging its ability to obtain a fair and accurate count of Latinos and the nation's population as a whole.

"An undercount of Latinos in 2030 would result in fewer resources for schools, health care, housing, and emergency services, and less representation in our democracy. The Constitution is clear: everyone who lives here must be counted. NALEO Educational Fund, alongside our NALEO members, will continue working with congressional leaders and community partners to demand robust testing, transparency, and a census that counts every person. Our communities deserve to be safe, seen, and counted - not erased."