Statement on the Supreme Court Census Decision

“This decision is a step in the right direction. Frankly, considering the current makeup of the Supreme Court, it is remarkable. It gives us hope that the checks and balances that have guided our democracy remain strong, even in the face of an administration whose actions toward making sure everyone is faithfully counted in the 2020 Census are, in the words of Justice Stephen Breyer, ‘not just unconvincing, but pretextual.’

“The Founding Fathers thought this data was so important that they mandated it as part of the United States Constitution in Article 1 Section 2 because representation is based on population and connected to so much of vital importance to Los Angeles County, in order to appropriately fund and serve our residents.

“An up-to-date tally is essential and any actions to stop this accounting are a violation of what we hold sacred. We will continue our fight to count every member of our community because it is our duty – whether they speak another language, are of a different ethnicity, or belong to a different political party. They deserve to be counted. They matter!

“In Los Angeles County, we face a special challenge. We’re home to one of the most diverse populations in the world. The world is Los Angeles County and Los Angeles County is the world. This means we have our work cut out for us to reach historically hard-to-count population groups, such as people of color, low-income residents, immigrants, and people without higher education. Young children and young families are particularly at risk.

“Los Angeles County’s Second District is the hardest-to-count Supervisorial District with approximately 74 percent of its residents – close to 1.5 million people – living in hard-to-count Census Block Groups. I applaud today’s decision by the Supreme Court in seeing through this administration’s attempt to sideline our brothers and sisters that they would not like to see counted. My message to those of you for whom this citizenship question was aimed: Representation matters, you will be counted, we will fight for you!”