The U.S. Census Bureau has proposed changes for the 2030 Census that could affect Puerto Ricans. The proposal would change the criteria for determining where a person is counted and would bar questions on race and ethnicity from the questionnaire, including the "Puerto Rican" checkbox. It also contemplates changes to how certain non-citizens are treated when seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned.
The "PRCuenta" initiative warns the changes would affect the distribution of federal funds and the quality of the information Puerto Rico needs to plan health, education, housing, infrastructure, disaster recovery and electoral districts. Lorena Molina Irizarry, former Senior Advisor for Puerto Rico at the Census Bureau in Washington, DC, who led the White House Territorial Data Gap Committee, said not being counted could have irreparable impacts on Puerto Rico’s economy for more than a decade.
Ataveyra Medina Hernández, Co-Executive Director of Espacios Abiertos, said census data underpin billions of federal dollars. Although Puerto Rico does not take part in House apportionment, the changes would affect the 5.8 million Puerto Ricans in the diaspora and how electoral districts and maps are redrawn in Puerto Rico. Economist José Caraballo Cueto said the measures would make some communities invisible, citing a 28-percentage-point gap in low-income San Juan communities in reported employment.
Rosanna Torres, president of the Center for a New Economy (CNE), also stressed the importance of data. The initiative asks the Census Bureau to clarify how the rule applies to Puerto Rico, evaluate administrative records, preserve field verification and keep demographic information, and demands meaningful participation opportunities in Spanish.