Tuesday’s city council meeting brought answers for immigrants concerned about the 2020 census. The Las Cruces City Council voted unanimously that current citizenship should not be a factor in being counted. Councilwoman Johana Bencomo was clear every single Las Cruces resident has a right to participate, regardless of immigration status.
“I'm really proud that we're doing this resolution,” Bencomo said. “It's estimated that one out of ten New Mexicans is an immigrant, that two-thirds of those are living in mixed status homes, so there are thousands of undocumented New Mexicans who are at risk of not being counted. Not only is that inhumane, and comes from a really nasty place, but that's also really detrimental to the next ten years of infrastructure needs for communities, housing, clinics, all of these resources.”
It’s a notion that’s been called into question by President Trump who, in a recent Presidential Memorandum, sought to exclude those not legally in the country. The Las Cruces City Council did not share the president’s perspective, believing census resources will be needed regardless of citizenship. Councilman Gabe Vasquez said having access to resources benefits more than just those who are undocumented.
“Being able to make sure we can count everybody is good for everybody,” Vasquez said. “That's good for our entire community, because we all share services, we all share funds. It's really important. I think part of what the administration was trying to do here was to discourage and to scare undocumented folks or mixed status folks, from participating in the census. Even if he doesn't get his way, he probably will have already scared off a bunch of people from participating, which is really unfortunate.”
The census wasn’t the only issue the city council addressed. In a direct response to the pandemic, the council authorized half a million dollars to go toward extraordinary pay for essential city employees.
Approximately 800 city employees will garner an additional payment of $500 per person—including custodians, firefighters, law enforcement and EMTs. Councilwoman Bencomo hopes it becomes more than just a one-time payment.
“I think the greatest asset that the city as an institution has is its staff, and so we want to take good care of our people, especially those who perhaps didn't have a dangerous job before but are interacting with the public during a pandemic,” Bencomo said. “My biggest concern is that it's just a one-time payment. And so I understand obviously that, you know, we don't have a tree of money growing in the backyard, but I definitely want to make sure that we're taking care of people, that people feel taken care of.”
Mayor Ken Miyagishima is hopeful the city will be reimbursed for these payments through CARES Act funds but believes it’s the right thing to do regardless.
“We're pretty confident, the city's pretty confident, that it qualifies under the CARES Act,” Miyagishima said. “If it gets reimbursed, which we think it will, great. And if we don't, well, we've helped other members of the community as well. This is just a small token of appreciation. There are workers…out, inspecting in quality of life, there are people dropping off Meals on Wheels, you know, they risk themselves daily to help those in need.”
