New York City Council members joined advocates Wednesday to push for $40 million in state funding to ensure an accurate headcount of New Yorkers for the 2030 census — regardless of their immigration status.
The City Hall event occurred on National Census Day — as House Republicans move to add a citizenship question to the 2030 federal survey to try to thwart the notion that even illegal migrants should be counted.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, here with Mayor Zohran Mamdani at a free childcare event, is pushing for millions of dollars in state funding for census promotion. Matthew McDermott for NY Post“We have a situation where House Republicans are trying to put the citizenship question back on the census,” Menin said.
“What this will mean is that cities like New York with our immigrant communities, with ICE raids, are going to be severely undercounted in the census,” Menin added, saying the question would be used to weed at least some migrants out of the count.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
She noted that undercounts jeopardize congressional seats and federal funding.
Menin said more money is needed for both the city and state to prepare to do battle and make sure every resident is counted, especially if the GOPers fail in their effort.
“So that is really what’s at stake here with the census, and that’s why we are here today to demand additional funding … to make sure that every single New Yorker is counted in the 2030 census,” she said.
“This would provide support for community-based organizations, multilingual outreach, and data infrastructure, so New York does not again leave representation and resources on the table,” Menin told the state legislature in testimony last month.
