PI-ISD hosts census drive

Census Bureau workers assist Port Isabel residents with their 2020 Census questionnaire on Sept. 28. Photo by Gaige Davila.

By Gaige Davila
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

The Point Isabel Independent School District (PI-ISD) held their 2020 Census Roundup on Monday, encouraging Port Isabel residents to complete their 2020 Census. 

PI-ISD’s school board members welcomed people as they drove to the Port Isabel Event & Cultural Center on Railroad Street, just as a cold front made its way to the South Texas coast, completing their Census forms from their cars. 

Port Isabel residents received school supplies after completing their 2020 Census from their cars. Photo by Gaige Davila.

Nearby, residents walked or rode bicycles to the “roundup” as on-site census workers assisted them with census forms.

In total, 140 people completed the Census at the Roundup, with each receiving a $25 H-E-B gift card donated by United Way. Residents were given school supplies as they made their way out of the Port Isabel Event & Cultural Center parking lot. In total, around $6,000 in gift cards and school supplies were handed out, according to PI-ISD. 

Arriving by bicycle, Port Isabel residents fill out their 2020 Census on Sept. 28. Photo by Gaige Davila.

The 2020 Census Roundup is the last of PI-ISD’s events to help residents complete census forms, as the Oct. 5 deadline approaches. 

Port Isabel City Manager Jared Hockema commented on the importance of the Census. 

“A complete response is important to our area because it determines representation, and is also a factor in certain funding,” Hockema said. 

A Port Isabel resident completes their Census questionnaire on their motorcycle. Photo by Gaige Davila.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh (California) issued a preliminary injunction that extended the census count until October 31 nationwide, suspending the Census Bureau’s initial deadline for Sept. 30.

A week later, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the 2020 Census would end on Oct. 5, according to a report from the Associated Press. 

As of Sept. 27, Cameron County’s self-response rate–those who responded to the Census online, by mail or by phone–was 51.6 percent.

Port Isabel’s self-response rate, as of Sept. 27, is 35.9 percent. In 2010, Port Isabel’s Census response rate was 50.1 percent. Laguna Vista’s response rate is 62.3 percent, two tenths higher than the state’s response rate at 62.1 percent. Laguna Vista has also surpassed their 2010 response rate, which was 56.2 percent. South Padre Island’s Census response rate is 10.9 percent. In 2010, SPI had a 14.4 percent response rate. 

Want the whole story? Pick up a copy of the Port Isabel-South Padre Press, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.