LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — We’re about a month away from Census Day, and there’s a push to get more of the Hispanic and AAPI communities to participate.
Expect to see more census materials over the next month as events in Las Vegas kick off. The importance of the count being stressed.
“We want to make sure that Nevada, and especially Las Vegas, receives its fair share of resources when monies are being allocated at a federal level,” Las Vegas Council member Olivia Diaz said.
She says outreach is underway to inform the Hispanic community about the need to be counted.
“The language barrier is huge, so doing PSAs and advocacy in Spanish is equally important,” Diaz said.
She says informational sessions like these helps ease fears about how the information will be used, especially on questions of immigration status -- which won’t be on the census survey. Diaz encourages participation.
“Your participation equals dollars that can come and bolster a lot of supportive services like housing and free and reduced lunch programs,” Diaz said.
For the AAPI community, the diversity of languages present helps inform people the census is not political.
“I don’t know if the person was confused between caucus and census, so that’s why they think it’s political,” Margie Llorente-Gonzalez, chairperson of the AAPI Community Commission, said.
The immense growth of the AAPI community in Nevada is also something community leaders want to accurately reflect.
“It’s grown so much that every day we’re trying to catch up. Back in 2010, the census count said that we were at 11% and I really think it was under counted at the time,” Marc Matsuo, president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, said.
With their target outreach there's a plea to participate in the process.
“Please talk to us. Let us work together and let’s get all of our population counted,” Matsuo said.
