BY STEVE CLARK
Staff Writer
With just days to spare before the 2020 census count was to end due to a Sept. 30 deadline imposed by the U.S. Census Bureau under pressure from the Commerce Department, a federal district judge in California ruled on Sept. 24. that the counting will go on through Oct. 31.
It’s the latest in a series of twists for the census, which has been complicated by the pandemic, natural disasters and legal maneuvering on behalf of White House. The original deadline to wrap up in-person enumeration was July 31, though the bureau pushed it back to the end of October to try and ensure as accurate a count as possible. Then the bureau reversed course, moving the deadline up to the end of September.
A number of census events have been taking place around the county in recent months, and those efforts will continue, she said. If the judge’s ruling stands but no more money comes through for census workers, then the county will have to make do however it can, Cameron County Clerk Sylvia Garza-Perez said.
“We’re going to have to rely on volunteers, myself, and try to find people from the (county’s) Complete Count committee to help us start creating ways to get people signed up,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned for the county we’re going to continue doing everything we’re doing (and) encouraging people to sign up and not to give up. We’ve got to make this.”
