WHITTIER – Leaders at Rio Hondo College are urging community members to take an active role in advocating for a fair, unbiased and accurate count of U.S. residents during the 2020 U.S. census, a critical tool for determining how federal funding is determined and voting districts are drawn. 
The Board of Trustees passed two resolutions on March 13 – one opposing inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 census and a second supporting an accurate count, local outreach, assistance and promotion of census awareness.
The citizenship question effort is under legal review after a bevy of lawsuits and challenges by attorneys general in more than 17 states who argue that the question will create fear in undocumented communities, reduce participation by documented immigrants and skew counts of political districts in favor of conservatives.
The House of Representatives is holding hearings on the matter; the Supreme Court will hold a legal review on April 23 of a New York judge’s ruling against the question.
“The U.S. census, held every decade, is perhaps one of the single-most important acts by our federal government,” Board of Trustees President Gary Mendez said. “It must be absolutely free of partisan taint and allow for all residents of our communities – documented or not – to feel unthreatened by fear that the information they provide will be used against them.”
The College’s first resolution states that the citizenship question would lead to inaccurate data about Latinx residents, as well as the overall number of residents of the Rio Hondo College district. It encourages Congress members to combat the effort.
The second resolution states that Rio Hondo College is committed to working with government entities, including local school districts, to ensure an accurate count. The College will explore ways of working with faculty to include 2020 census information in classroom discussions and curriculum.
Rio Hondo College Trustee Oscar Valladares, a deputy public conservator in the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, is an immigrant from Guatemala and former Dreamer.
“This census question is a politically motivated tool that distorts the goal of this once-a-decade count,” Valladares said. “We need to use every tool we can to ensure the count in our area is as accurate as it can be. And that starts with education. This is why I invited the National Organization of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) to present to our board – so we could educate our community about the 2020 census.”
A presentation to the Board of Trustees by Lizette Escobedo, director of the National Census Program for the NALEO Educational Fund, stated that Latino youth is at high risk of being undercounted, based on 2010 census results. Undercounts are concentrated in 12 U.S. counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego.
“Rio Hondo College is committed to serving all members of our community, undocumented or documented, so they can realize their dreams,” Superintendent/President Teresa Dreyfuss said. “As an immigrant myself, I empathize with those members of our community who face barriers to their success and I am proud to be part of an institution that offers equity and access to all.”
MEDIA RELEASE
3600 Workman Mill Road / Whittier, CA 90601
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RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2019
CONTACT: Ruthie Retana
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