PAAIA Announces 2020 Census Partnership
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Shannon Kuehn
Email: shannon@paaia.org
Phone: (202) 828-8370
Washington, DC — Today, the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) announced its partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau for the 2020 census in an effort to increase awareness among the Iranian American community about the importance of participating in the upcoming census.
The census is a population count of everyone residing in the United States which includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas. The census occurs once every ten years and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution (Article 1 section 2).
Data from the census provide the basis for distributing more than $675 billion in federal funds annually to communities across the country to support vital programs, impacting housing, education, transportation, employment, health care, and public policy nationwide. As a result, spending just a few minutes to fill out your census form will help ensure your community gets its fair share of federal and state funding.
In addition to the allocation of federal and state funding, the data are used to redraw the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts and accurately determine the number of congressional seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. Census data is also used to define legislature districts, school district assignment areas and other important functional areas of government.
2020 census partners are government, non-profit, corporate or community organizations that have formally pledged their commitment to share the 2020 census message and mobilize their constituents in support of the Census Bureau’s goal of achieving a complete population count. The Census Bureau provides promotional materials, regular updates and data assistance to partners to assist in this effort.
As a national partner for the 2020 census, PAAIA is working to make sure every Iranian American is counted. We will carry on with our efforts over the classification of the Iranian American community and urge the Census Bureau to broaden its options pertaining to reporting of ethnicity.
If you would like to know more about the 2020 census, you can visit their website.
July 23rd, 2019
