Advancing Justice – AAJC Issues Statement on the Post-Enumeration Survey Results from the U.S. Census Bureau
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Washington, DC — July 21, 2020 — The Census Bureau released its first set of results from the 2020 Post-Enumeration Survey (PES), which provides the first measures of accuracy for the 2020 Census. The PES independently surveys a sample of the population to help determine the overall accuracy of the census. Today’s results show that at the national level Asian Americans were overcounted at a rate of 2.62%.
John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, issues the following statement:
“It is encouraging news to hear that preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that Asian Americans were not undercounted on a net basis in the 2020 Census. Our communities were concerned about potential undercounts because the 2020 Census occurred during an unprecedented year of uncertainty with the global pandemic and a previous administration that created havoc and confusion for the 2020 Census. We are thankful for all our partners who worked tirelessly to get out the count and to our community members who participated in the 2020 Census. Their efforts contributed to the results reported from the U.S. Census Bureau.
At the same time, we remain concerned about the accuracy of the data given the overcount rate and are mindful that today’s results are only one piece of the puzzle. Because the data released are only available at the national level for Asian Americans, and there is no disaggregated data for Asian Americans by subgroup or national origin, we do not know how accurately Asian Americans were counted in each state or each of our communities. We will continue to work with the Census Bureau to understand this data further and to ensure that the Asian American community is accurately portrayed.”