DETROIT – With the 2020 Census deadline coming at the end of the month, Detroit mayor Mike Duggan is being blunt about about the consequences of not filling it out.
Detroit’s Census response rate is about 50%, less than the state’s 70%. With everything from medical care to school funding on the line, Duggan is urging Detroiters to fill out the 2020 Census.
“It’s pretty scary,” Duggan said. “Detroit can be left behind for the next decade.”
Detroit will lose $18,000 in services for every person who doesn’t fill out the Census.
“Think about your children. There will be less money for school lunches, there will be less Medicaid funds to take care of the poor, they will be fewer state representatives in Lansing for the next 10 years,” Duggan said. “It’s 10 minutes to answer 10 questions to affect our future for the next 10 years.”
The federal government cannot share the information collected with any other agency including ICE or the IRS.
“For particularly communities of color, when the government knocks on the door and wants to know information about you, Black and Brown Americans respond at lower rates,” Duggan said. “The administration knows it’s true, so the less effort they put in accounting, the more we will shift the money in the representation away from our cities.”
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Census takers will continue to go door-to-door and Duggan is hoping Detroiters will come out and be counted.
“Detroiters deserve our fair share, but if you’re not counted, you won’t get your fair share,” Duggan said. “And the federal government’s not helping you get counted and get your fair share. It’s something we got to do on our own.”
With funding and representation on the line for a decade and the clock ticking, the mayor said there’s no downside to filling out the Census.
“We got four weeks left,” Duggan said. “And at the end of four weeks, our future for the next decade is determined. Please take 10 minutes, you can go online and do it. You can do it when somebody knocks on your door.”
The deadline to complete the 2020 U.S. Census is Sept. 30.