SouthCoastToday.com | By Kerri Tallman |Sept. 15, 2020 | Photo: Peter Pereira, Standard Times
Leaders say counting immigrants could make big difference in federal funds city receives
The year 2020 has brought many great challenges to the country and its population, but there is one more task at hand: the 2020 Census.
The survey is taken every 10 years to determine the country’s population. Mayor Jon Michell and Secretary of State William F. Galvin visited the Immigrants’ Assistance Center (IAC) in the South End Monday to talk about the importance of all New Bedford residents participating in it.
“We want to push hard this year,” Mitchell said. “We believe that although New Bedford, in the last Census, was registered on the scoreboard as a city of 95,000, we are in fact a city of over 100,000, and being counted officially over 100,000 has all sorts of implications and we want to be sure we put forward the best effort.” He emphasized that in order to form a complete count committee, he had turned to the veterans of censuses’ past.
Immigrants Assistance Center Executive Director Helena DaSilva Hughes has been active over the past 12 months, as this is the fourth time she has engaged in extensive census outreach. “The global pandemic combined with the fear and anxiety facing immigrants is unprecedented,” she said.