Laredo Mayor voices opposition to Trump’s census memo

By Jorge A. Vela, LMTonline.com / Laredo Morning Times

Published

4:23 pm CDT, Sunday, July 26, 2020

President Donald J. Trump signed a memorandum Tuesday to the United States Secretary of Commerce titled “Excluding Illegal Aliens from the Apportionment” with the main purpose of excluding the counting of undocumented people in the country in the 2020 Census. Local officials and residents, including Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, voiced their opposition to the president’s memo.

One of the main oppositions to the memo is it seems to target one group of people directly and will severely impact a city like Laredo.

“The president has made clear what his intentions are with his recent memo,” Saenz said. “He wants to scare vulnerable communities back into the shadows. His order not to include undocumented persons on the census count requires a determination as to who is in fact legal, thus prompting again the citizenship question debate.”

Although the decision to whether include a citizenship question in the census survey was deemed unconstitutional by an earlier Supreme Court decision, the president has made it clear he would like such individuals not to be included in the survey either way. However, the new memo by the president states these individuals should not be counted as per “information permitting the President, to the extent practicable” which will most likely cause legal challenges.

Many local citizens spoke out against the memo saying it is unconstitutional since the census should include all people in the country.

“He’s pandering to his racist base,” Kelly Fitzgerald said. “He can’t change what the Constitution requires.”

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Others joked about the president being against including undocumented people in the survey when they perform many of the jobs that help produce food and products that the president has endorsed in recent years.

“It’s all about him at this point,” Joe Perez said. “To think that he even supports Goya products, but he will not include the undocumented worker who has hand-picked the product he endorses.”

Saenz said the situation is serious as it could cost the city millions of dollars in funding since many people would not be counted. It could be especially damaging to community programs helping the most vulnerable of the population.

“Laredo and other border communities stand to lose millions in federal funding and community programs if we are not fully counted,” Saenz said. “Not being counted and losing out in these funds will have chilling effects for an entire generation of children, students, struggling families, the elderly and other community members. Our representation in Washington is also at risk if we are not fully counted.”

People from all around the city seem to agree with the mayor. They believe by targeting these individuals it will only cause the citizens and legal residents of cities like Laredo to lose valuable funding for programs that benefit all people whether they are legally in the country or not.

“It will affect our community because we won’t get the appropriate federal funds needed for schools, roads, hospitals, public workers and other vital programs,” Jessica Pequeño said.

Others argue the exclusion of undocumented people is not just unconstitutional but immoral as well, especially since many of these individuals contribute to the local economy. They also contribute to the government’s revenue as they pay taxes at the state level.

“Why would they be excluded if they live here,” Mari Lee Paez said. “They pay the same taxes. When they shop and pay bills, taxes are included. So if they aren’t in the census, why pay those taxes?”

Health care is one area of funding that could be compromised.

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“You think it’s because he doesn’t want them to receive health care for not being citizens,” Ainessey Soto said. “Even if that is the case, they still have (COVID-19). We can’t get rid of it if people aren’t getting treatment. It can still be passed on.”

Not all people are against the decision by the president to exclude undocumented people from the census data. Steve Moreno believes not being American citizens should exclude them from being counted. However, most continue to argue the decision by the president is unconstitutional.

Despite the debate, Saenz continues to promote that all people should do the census survey in efforts for all the people of the city to be counted. The mayor said it is essential for people to do this in efforts to tell the government how many people live in the area.

“I ask all residents of Laredo — fill out the census and get counted,” Saenz said. “The law is on your side; your information is secure, and your status will not be jeopardized. Progress comes to those who work for it.”

As of Saturday evening, Laredo had a 46.8% self-response rate with 34.1% coming from online. Those totals are behind the state and national totals of 57.3% and 62.4%, respectively.

The census can be completed online at 2020census.gov. It can also be done by mail or in person at various locations before field workers come door-to-door.