CAA Joins API Legislative Caucus in Countdown to 2020 Census
Sacramento — Chinese for Affirmative Action joins the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus of the California State Legislature in the one-year countdown to the 2020 Census. The decennial Census determines Congressional representation for the state of California as well as political representation throughout California, and affects allocations for federal funding for a host of public education, health, economic development, and other services.
Based on the Census Bureau’s published plans to-date, CAA has identified major concerns to a full and complete count: language access, digital divide, and distrust in government. Immigrants and limited-English proficient communities will likely bear the brunt of these challenges.
Home to over 6 million limited-English proficient immigrants, California must take a proactive approach to operationalize solutions in the next year. CAA applauds the historic $100.3 million investment by the State of California that contributes significantly to these efforts. For example, a robust language access plan and sensible partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs) serve as a gateway to civic engagement with Hard-to-Count (HTC) communities.
Hong Mei Pang, Director of Advocacy at CAA expressed, “In 2020, immigrant communities can display strength in numbers and our goal must be to unite vulnerable communities to exercise inclusive democracy through the Census. The participation of our communities in the Census means fair political representation, equitable federal resources, and pushing back against hostile and exclusionary practices of the White House. In 2020, we will make our communities count.”
CAA has worked on the decennial Census since the 1970s to remove access barriers and to motivate participation within HTC communities. During the 2010 Census, CAA partnered with the City of San Francisco and other CBOs, resulting in San Francisco being the only county in California that did not suffer a decrease in its count of HTC communities.
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Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) is a community-based civil rights organization in San Francisco. Our mission is to protect the civil and political rights of Chinese Americans and to advance multiracial democracy in the United States. We advocate for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and remedies racial injustice.
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CAA Joins API Legislative Caucus in Countdown to 2020 Census
華人權益促進會加入亞太裔立法黨團迎接2020年人口普查倒數
沙加緬度–華人權益促進會（下稱：華促會）加入加州亞太裔立法黨團，進行2020年度人口普查一年的倒數。每十年一次的人口普查決定加州的國會議席，加州的政治代表性，以及影響數以百億計的聯邦撥款，包括了一系列公共服務的經費如公立教育，公共健康及衛生，經濟發展和其他社會服務項目。
根據人口普查部門最新公佈的人口普查方案，華促會關注到這次的人口普查能否確保得到完整的數據，特別關注以下三個問題：語言服務，數位落差及對聯邦政府的不信任態度。移民及英語有限社區首當其衝。
作為超過六百萬英語有限人士的家，加州需要採取更積極的行動去確保所有人口都能在下年的人口普查被計算在內。華促會肯定加州政府決定投入有史以來最多的一億元多投資之外，還更加強語言服務計劃與及與社區機構更緊密合作，透過計劃來推動“難以計算”群體的公民參與。
華促會倡議主任馮弘美表示「在2020年，移民社區可以向外界展示我們強大的數字及我們必須要連同其他同樣受到影響的社區團結起來，透過人口普查來展現我們民主的包容性。我們的參與，代表了人口普查的公平性，平等的政治代表性，聯邦資源公平的分配及反對白官所代表的排外敵對態度。2020年，我們需要確保我們大家的社區都被計算在內。」
華促會自1970年代起，已經投入人口普查的工作，致力確保”難以計算“的群體被計算在內，消除障礙及鼓勵社區參與。2010年人口普查，華促會聯同三藩市市政府及其他社區機構，成功令到三藩市成為當時唯一加州城市當中，人口普查中”難以計算“組別的數字並沒有經歷下滑的城市。
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華促會是立足在三藩市以社區為本的民權組織。我們的宗旨是保障美國華裔的民權及政治權利並以推動美國的多元種族民主為己任。我們提倡機構性的改變，去保障移民權益，加強語言的多元化及消除種族的不平等。
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