By Mark F. Gray
AFRO Staff Writer
mgray@afro.com

Prince George’s County is putting an all out blitz on making sure all residents are accounted for during the 2020 United States Census after missing out on millions of dollars when many of its residents went undocumented during the 2010 population count. 

County Executive Angela Alsobrooks estimated the 2010 under reporting of it’s residents cost the County over $360 million in federal funding that would have helped subsidize services such as Medicare, transportation and special education.  She has been vigilant about increasing the awareness of residents understanding how important it is to be counted through various community outreach programs.

The local chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit as County Executive Angela Alsobrooks works for Prince George’s County residents to avoid being undercounted, an issue that could lead to a continued loss millions of dollars and disparities in minority communities. (Courtesy Photo)

Alsobrooks has committed resources to engage immigrant communities in order to ease the reluctance of residents who may be scared to answer the Census, because many still believe that information will be used for immigration enforcement and possibly lead to deportation.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau data, Prince George’s County was the most under reported County in Maryland in 2010. About 2.3 percent of the residents went undocumented, which was the largest undercount of any other County during the last Census report. That was a recurrent theme throughout the state, where the most densely populated minority areas were also the most under reported.  

Baltimore City saw 2.14 percent of it’s population omitted, while Montgomery County was under reported by 0.85 percent and Baltimore County was undercounted by 0.67 percent.  

The County received legal assistance last week when the local chapter of the NAACP filed another lawsuit alleging this year’s current plans by the U.S. Census Bureau will continue to misrepresent heavily populated minority communities. This lawsuit is asking the court to force the Bureau to use money in it’s budget, which reportedly hasn’t been appropriated, to increase outreach and communications efforts.  It also contends the Bureau should employ at least the same number of field employees as it did in 2010, while increasing the number the number of field offices to reflect an amount to reflect a fair and accurate count.  

However, the Census Bureau’s plans call for a reduction in the number of field offices from 500 in 2010 to 248 in 2020.  The Bureau’s contention is that modern technology has reduced the need for the same amount of manpower. The people who count the Census are now able to work remotely and data can be collected via mobile devices that are expanding capabilities, which has reduced the need for the amount of offices required to support this year’s fieldwork.

This legal battle started when the original lawsuit was filed in 2018 that alleged the Bureau’s “deficient plans for the 2020 Census will lead to an undercount of communities of color, leading to decreased political representation and diminished allocations of federal funding for plaintiffs.” A district court dismissed that case, but an appeals court ruling overturned part of that decision, which opened the door for the NAACP and Prince George’s County to move forward with their case.