Not responding to the census is self-defeating, Lin said, because “you’re losing on everything that someone else is going to get.” And those who would aid marginalized communities need data to change policies.

It’s the job of the Census Bureau to convince folks that the reward of filling out a census form is worth the perceived risk.

“We don’t share any information with anyone, not ICE, not the FBI, not the president. It’s all about the numbers. We want to make sure we get the money back to localities,” said Tameka Jefferson, the Census Bureau’s partnership specialist for the Richmond area.

The bureau is hiring census takers with an eye toward building trust — an issue beyond immigrant communities.

“Even those who are from the area — think of public housing communities — a lot of people don’t want to share how many people or who lives in their homes out of fear they will lose their Section 8 voucher or whatever,” Jefferson said. “And so that’s why I said it’s very important for us to get the message out across the spectrum that we’re in those communities, walking around, connecting.”

It’s also important that children born between Jan. 1 and April 1 of next year are counted.