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Harvard Kennedy School - JOURNAL OF HISPANIC POLICY A Harvard Kennedy School student publication
Harvard Kennedy School
JOURNAL OF HISPANIC POLICY
A Harvard Kennedy School student publication

                  Volume 32
Copyright

All views expressed in the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy are those of the authors
and do not represent the views of Harvard University, the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University, the editorial staff of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic
Policy, the Executive Advisory Board of the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, or any
associates of the journal.

© 2020 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Except as
otherwise specified, no article or portion herein is to be reproduced or adapted to other
works without the expressed written consent of the editors of the Harvard Journal of
Hispanic Policy.

ii                                               Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
Staff

Bryan Cortes      		Co-Editor-in-Chief
Rodrigo Dorador 		Co-Editor-in-Chief
Natalia Chavez 		Executive Director
Daniel A. Estupiñan		     Managing Editor, Print
Yasmin Serrato-Muñoz		    Managing Editor, Digital
Thomas Franco 		Senior Editor
Alexander de Avila        Senior Editor
Jonatan Ortiz			Senior Editor
Alberto Castellón 		Senior Editor
Jazmine Garcia Delgadillo Senior Editor
Kat Hemsing			Senior Editor
Cristina Correa			Senior Editor
Mayumi Cornejo			Senior Editor
Martha Foley 			Publisher
Richard Parker 			        Faculty Advisor

Volume 32 | 2020                                    iii
Executive Advisory Board

Gail M. Smith                       Nora de Hoyos Comstock, PhD
Board Chair                         Founder and Board Member,
CEO and Publisher,                  Las Comadres para Las Americas
Impacto Latino                      Trustee, Austin Community
                                    College District
Georgina C. Verdugo*
Consultant and Attorney at Law      Jim R. Carr
                                    Former Chair, Harvard Kennedy
Hilda Polanco,                      School Journal of Hispanic Policy
CPA, CGMA, CCSA®                    Executive Advisory Board
Founder and CEO,
Fiscal Management Associates,       Daniel Garza
LLC (FMA)                           President, The Libre Initiative

Grace Flores-Hughes*                Juan Salazar*
Vice Chair, F&H 2 Inc.              Head of Local Policy and
                                    Community Engagement, Facebook
Alejandra Campoverdi*
Founder, The Well Woman Coalition   Margaret Lezcano
                                    Managing Director, UBS Inc.
Genoveva L. Arrellano*
Principal, Arellano Associates      Henry A.J. Ramos
                                    Member Emeritus, Harvard
Sergio Levin                        Kennedy School Journal of
Independent Advisor in graduate     Hispanic Policy Executive Advisory
education programs                  Board

                                    *Harvard Kennedy School alumnus
                                    ^Harvard College alumnus

iv                                      Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
Table of Contents

Editors’ Note                                                                         2

Commentary                                                                           4
       Why the Supreme Court’s DACA decision will determine whether
       people like me matter, Antonio Arellano

Commentary                                                                            7
       Be Counted in Our Democracy: 2020 Census and the Latinx Community,
       Teresa Acuña

Feature                                                                              18
       Still Unrepresented: A 10-year look at the diversity crisis on Capitol Hill,
       Congressional Hispanic Staffer Association (CHSA)

Feature                                                                              32
       FinTech: Means to Inclusive Economic Development?, Sharon Velasquez

Interview                                                                            41
       Latinx Political Leadership—An Interview with California Secretary of
       State Alex Padilla, Natalia Chavez & Bryan Cortes

Feature                                                                              48
       Chilling Effects and Grumbling Stomachs: The Impact of Public
       Charge Rule Changes on Nutrition Assistance Access among Children in
       Immigrant Families, Allyson Rose Pérez

Feature                                                                              55
       The Unfolding of Latinx Political Power in Nevada: Doubling Down on
       Urban Education Policy, Dr. Magdalena Martinez

Commentary                                                                           77
       The War on Immigration in the Age of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence,
       Thomas Franco

Feature                                                                              85
       The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program and Upward Mobility:
       Through a Latino Lens, Mayra Vazquez
Editor’s Note

We are at a critical inflection point in the history of the United States. In 2020,
we will be conducting a nationwide census and electing a new president.
The outcomes of these processes will influence the trajectory of this nation
and the lives of millions of Latinxs.
    According to the Pew Research Center, a growing share of Latinxs say
that the community’s situation worsened after 2016. Perhaps one of the most
indicative manifestations that the growing concern is real came to pass in
the summer of 2019. A young man shot and killed 22 individuals in the
community of El Paso, Texas. Before the attack, the young man posted a
document online that tied his attack to an effort to defend his country against
the “[Latinx] invasion of Texas.” Although the individual is being tried for a
federal hate crime and is likely to be convicted, the event has made its imprint
in the Latinx community, which has been the target of White supremacist
rhetoric and policy in recent years. Despite being targeted, our community
has not bowed its head. In fact, the same Pew Research Center study shows
that Latinxs are becoming more politically engaged. At the journal, we believe
in the power of civil society to change the course of history, especially at the
critical juncture in which we find ourselves.
    To foster conversation around this topic, we chose “Latinx Power and
Representation” as the theme of our 32nd volume. This issue of the journal
will highlight timely policy issues at the center of Latinx political power. The
volume intends to offer a perspective on the challenges and opportunities
facing different groups within the Latinx community to achieve, reclaim,
and exercise power in today’s context.
    Among some of our pieces are Dr. Magdalena Martinez’s piece, “The
Unfolding of Latinx Political Power in Nevada,” which is a must-read case
study that will enable readers to better understand how demographic chang-
es, especially within schools, have become a catalyst for Latinx political
awakening. In an exclusive interview for the journal, California Secretary
of State, Alex Padilla, shares his perspective of the political transformation
that California experienced after Proposition 187 and gives us advice on how
Latinxs can increase their representation in the political arena. In another
featured article, the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association (CHSA) pro-
vides a critical take on the lack of diversity in Congress and offers concrete

2                                             Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
policy proposals to improve the representation of Latinxs that staff legislative
offices and powerful committees on Capitol Hill. Overall, we have carefully
selected each piece to provide insightful commentary and research insights,
and we hope that this volume fosters conversation on the opportunities and
challenges facing the Latinx community.
    We are thankful for the executive advisory board members for their
continued dedication to the journal staff. A special thank you to Gail Smith,
our board’s chair, for her continued support and guidance to the journal’s
leadership team. We would also like to thank Martha Foley, assistant director
of student services, and Professor Richard Parker, our faculty advisor, for their
continued dedication to student-run policy journals at the John F. Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard University.
    Finally, we are also grateful for the support of our entire editorial team.
You all have poured your hearts into this journal, and we are sincerely
grateful for your strength and dedication in serving Latinx and Hispanic
communities at Harvard University and beyond. Our experience leading the
Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy would not have been
the same without all of you. Lastly, thank you to our dedicated readers: you
sustain our hope about the future of our community.
    Please find more information about the Harvard Kennedy School Journal
of Hispanic Policy on our website: http://hjhp.hkspublications.org/

Con Fuerza,
Bryan Cortes & Rodrigo Dorador
Co-Editors in Chief, 2019-2020

Volume 32 | 2020                                                              3
Commentary

Why the Supreme Court’s DACA
Decision Will Determine
Whether People like Me Matter

                                          Antonio Arellano

Antonio Arellano is the interim           justice issues through leadership
executive director of Jolt, the largest   development and advocacy.
Latino progressive organization           Antonio’s consistent innovation has
in Texas, focused on building the         garnered national attention, and
political power and influence             he has been featured in MSNBC,
of young Latinos. Antonio is a            the Washington Post, Huffpost,
proven human rights advocate,             and USA Today. Discover
whose efforts have resulted in the        more about Antonio here: www.
engagement and mobilization of            antonioarellano.com.
thousands of young Latino voters
in Texas. Named one of the most           The Supreme Court has an important
influential Latinos in the United         decision to make this sitting: whether
                                          people like me matter. As a gay DACA
States by Hispanicize, Antonio’s          recipient, the nine justices will de-
social media accounts reach a             termine what rights I deserve in the
combined 100 thousand millennial          country I call home, the country that
voters. He uses his voice and             once protected me but is now willing
                                          to betray me because of who I love
platforms to encourage young
                                          and where I come from.
Latinos to make systemic change              The landmark decision legaliz-
on racial, immigration, economic,         ing gay marriage nationwide in the
environmental, and gender                 summer of 2015 gave me hope and
                                          reminded me of the brilliance of

4                                            Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
our democratic experiment. This            rely on the court while lawmakers in
moment, which for so many, marked          Congress sit on bills like the Equality
an advancement in humankind, was           Act and Dream Act, which would
short lived. Almost immediately after      deliver real solutions. America must
this victory, it was eclipsed by relent-   reject discrimination and racism and
less attempts to intimidate and strip      embrace diversity and equality.
LGBTQ people of our human rights.              As the court hears the opening
    Having to navigate a life of rejec-    arguments in these cases, violent acts
tions, discrimination, and humiliation     are on the rise against immigrants
as a gay Latino in Texas was only          and hate crimes against transgen-
compounded by my immigration               der women. Over 20 transgender
status. This continuous battle seemed      or gender non-conforming people
to temporarily improve with the imple-     have been fatally shot or killed by
mentation of the Deferred Action for       other means in 2019, and there is
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program          still a month left to go, according
in June 2012.                              to the Human Rights Campaign.
    When it was announced that the         Among those killed is Johana “Joa”
court would hear the cases to rescind      Medina, a 25 year old who died at a
DACA and LGBTQ discrimination              hospital in El Paso hours after she
within months of each other, I was         was released from ICE custody. She
spurred back into action, with the vivid   dreamed of working as a certified
images of our past protests for liberty    nurse in the United States after being
still fresh on my mind. After years        unable to practice as a transgender
of making our demands for equality         woman in her home country. Fellow
heard, we will be either silenced or       Latina, Layleen Polanco, is a 27 year
affirmed by a potential 5-4 decision.      old who was found dead in a cell at
    Our country deserves perma-            Rikers Island. She was described as a
nent solutions regarding DACA              “sweet,” “generous,” and “amazing”
and LGBTQ discrimination. These            person by those who knew her.
Supreme Court cases are just the               Coretta Scott King once said,
culmination of America’s ongoing           “Struggle is a never-ending process.
fight with its bigoted system. Margin-     Freedom is never really won, you earn
alized communities have been taught        it and win it in every generation.”
to rely on the court to protect their      Amidst the anti-Latino and anti-im-
rights and to protect them from being      migrant sentiment that has permeated
harmed by law enforcement officers         the country, there has never been a
in New York (Stonewall) and here in        more critical time to fight for our
Texas (Rangers). We have been told to      dignity, our rights, and our freedom.

Volume 32 | 2020                                                               5
Searing discrimination toward the        and gender identity are set aside for
LGBTQ community and unabashed                the common good. We live in an
racism against Latinos is as American        increasingly divisive time, and this
as apple pie. The earliest cases of dis-     decision will be key in setting the
crimination stem from early disputes         stage on whether we will continue
over Spanish and Mexican territories,        divided or will work toward unity and
but LGBTQ Latinos are particularly           a common vision for the pursuit of
vulnerable to workplace exploitation,        life, liberty, and justice for all.
immigration policies, and hate crimes.       America must make amends with the
Despite continuous setbacks on the           past and recognize the progress of
journey to equality, LGBTQ Lati-             society. This starts by recognizing and
nos haven’t shied away from making           appreciating the diversity and equality
their voices heard. This marginalized        that makes us great. Our country’s
subgroup has great role models in            Constitution begins with the words
individuals like José Julio Sarria, the      “We the People.” By upholding the
first openly gay candidate for public        rights of LGBTQ and undocumented
office in the United States; Sylvia          people, the Supreme Court will finally
Rivera, a bisexual and transgender           make “We” more like me.
rights activist credited with starting the
Stonewall Riots; and Gloria Anzaldúa,
a renowned Chicano history scholar
and lesbian rights advocate. Despite
insurmountable progress, work still
lies ahead, and it is up to the new
generation of LGBTQ advocates to
continue the good fight.
    Now, the future of young undocu-
mented people with hopes and dreams
of changing the lives of their families,
their communities, and the country
lies with the nine justices of the Su-
preme Court. By deciding who gets
protection and who doesn’t in this
country, they will effectively decide
what the future of this country will
look like. America must propel hu-
mankind toward a future of inclusion
where differences such as social status

6                                               Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
Commentary

Be Counted in Our Democracy:
2020 Census and
the Latinx Community

                                            Teresa Acuña

Teresa Acuña is associate director          in presidential appointments and in
of the Ash Center’s Democratic              elected office.
Governance program at the John
                                            She served as legislative director
F. Kennedy School of Government
                                            to Congressional Representative
at Harvard University, where she
                                            Gloria Negrete McLeod and as
bridges practice, technology, and
                                            legislative director to California
academia to build sustainable
                                            State Assemblymember Luis
democracies.
                                            Alejo, where she managed a broad
For over ten years, Teresa has              progressive policy agenda. A former
worked at the state and national            California State Senate Fellow
levels in a variety of policy, political,   and legislative aide to California
and governance roles, most recently         State Senator Gilbert Cedillo,
director of policy and leadership           she helped usher legislation that
programs at the National Hispanic           sought to diminish social and civil
Leadership Agenda in Washington,            inequalities. She has also been
DC, a premier coalition of the              involved in numerous electoral
nation’s 40 leading organizations           campaigns across the country.
advocating on behalf of Latinos in
the United States. Teresa managed           Teresa graduated from the John F.
a national effort to increase diversity     Kennedy School of Government at

Volume 32 | 2020                                                             7
Harvard University with a master’s        receives in the House of Representa-
in public administration and from         tives. While each state is allotted two
                                          seats in the US Senate, the number of
San Diego State University with
                                          representative seats fluctuates based
a bachelor’s of arts in political         on the state’s population. Predicated
science and Chicana/o studies. She        on the principle of one person, one
sits on various nonprofits’ boards,       vote, every congressional district must
including New American Leaders.           have equal population size for pur-
                                          poses of representation. The same
                                          principal holds for the apportionment
The Census is a vital but often           of state legislative seats, requiring
overlooked civic action in our de-        redistricting of congressional districts
mocracy. For the Latinx community,        and state legislative districts to follow
participation in the upcoming Census      every decennial Census. An under-
will have long-term consequences.         count of a population diminishes a
Their participation will determine        community’s influence in Congress,
how effectively they are represented      state legislatures, and other govern-
in Congress and state legislatures and    mental bodies.
how services for their community              The Census provides us with
are funded. Therefore, it is critically   greater insight into how individu-
important that measures be taken to       als and communities perceive their
ensure Latinx households self-report      identities. It produces one of the
in the Census and be counted.             largest datasets reflecting the peo-
Why Does the Census Matter?               ple living in the United States and
Mandated in the United States Con-        its territories. Through the Census,
stitution, the founders enshrined the     policymakers, businesses, and academ-
notion of counting every person living    ics are provided with wide-ranging
in the country for purposes of deter-     data that help guide the allocation
mining political representation. Since    of federal aid, government services,
1790, the Census has been held every      and other resources. For example, in
ten years, requiring all persons that     2017, 316 federal spending programs
reside in the country, irrespective       relied on Census data to allocate
of citizenship or residency status, to    $1.5 trillion to state and local gov-
participate.                              ernments, nonprofits, businesses, and
    The Census aims to create equal       households.1 These programs funded
distribution of power and is used         communal resources such as roads,
for reapportionment, a process that       fire stations, and schools as well as
redistributes the number seats a state    aid to individuals such as child care

8                                            Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
and nutrition benefits. An accurate        a major concern for some state and
Census helps ensure that funding is        local officials as well as for advocates
properly allocated to communities          of hard-to-count populations. Some
that need it most.                         states and local municipalities have
   Given that money and power are          responded to the federal government’s
at stake, an accurate count of all         lack of funding by investing their own
people is necessary for fair allocation    funds to ensure a complete count.
of resources and representation in             California, which houses a high
our democracy.                             number of hard-to-count communities
                                           including a large Latinx population,
Hard-to-Count Communities                  will invest over $150 million of state
and Census Challenges                      funding to ensure an accurate count.3,4
A challenging reality of the Census        It is a modest and worthwhile in-
is that there are communities that         vestment given the federal dollars it
are considered hard to count and are       risks losing through an undercount
therefore underrepresented in the          of its residents. However, 24 states
Census. Some of these communities          will not make similar investments,
have long been underrepresented in         including Texas, another state with
the Census, while others are just now      a high number of Latinx residents.5
experiencing real or perceived barriers
to participation.2 An individual’s like-   Undercounting the Latinx
lihood of responding to the Census         Community
can vary greatly depending on their        In the 2020 Census, the Latinx com-
race, ethnicity, immigration status,       munity faces an acute risk of being
type of home dwelling, or income           undercounted, which risks further
level, among other factors. Moreover,      contributing toward the community’s
new collection methodologies can           underrepresentation in the halls of
also impact response rates, and the        power as well as depriving the Latinx
Census Bureau has bolstered its efforts    community of critical federal invest-
to collect data online.                    ments it needs.
    To reach hard-to-count popula-             As of 2018, there were approx-
tions, the Census Bureau must de-          imately 59.9 million members of
ploy a variety of innovative methods.      the Latinx community living in the
This means robust outreach, multiple       United States and its territories, which
mailers, and in-person enumerators         represents one the largest and fast-
to follow up with non-respondents.         est-growing demographic groups in
However, the federal government’s un-      the country.6 Yet, for the 2020 Census,
derinvestment in the Census has been       the Latinx community makes up one

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                9
in every three hard-to-count census        be undercounted.
tracks, and when individuals are not           * Language barriers preventing
counted, entire communities are            participation. Achieving an accurate
impacted.                                  count requires participants to under-
    While there are a variety of factors   stand the questions and messaging
contributing to the potential underrep-    intended to encourage participation.
resentation of the Latinx community        While the online Census will offer
in the 2020 Census, there are several      materials in 13 different languages,
factors that exacerbate the communi-       the forms will only be available in
ty’s vulnerability to an undercount.       English and Spanish. The usage of
    * High proportion of undercounted      non-English materials will play a
population: Latinx children. Histori-      critical role in bolstering participation,
cally, the Census struggles to capture     as 30 percent of all Hispanics residing
the accurate number of children living     in the United States report they do not
in the United States. However, young       speak English “very well.”9 Yet, while
Latinx children are more likely to go      Census materials will be available
uncounted than their non-Hispanic          in Spanish, there are language vari-
counterparts.7 In the 2010 Census,         ances within the Latinx population,
Latinx children between the ages           and lower levels of literacy among
of 0 and 4 accounted for 30 percent        immigrant communities may require
of the undercounted group.8 As a           additional interventions.10
result, states and local governments           * Socioeconomic status and educa-
lost critical federal funding for the      tional attainment. Communities with
education, nutrition, and health care      higher income levels and educational
services meant for these children and      attainment are less likely to be un-
their families. There are a variety of     dercounted in the Census. However,
reasons this population is difficult       poverty within the Latinx community
to count. For example, some chil-          is pervasive—21 percent of the Latinx
dren may be not be counted because         community lives in poverty, while over
they live in linguistically isolated       60 percent of Latinx individuals only
households, nontraditional family          have a high school degree or never
settings, or with extended family such     completed high school.11
as grandparents or unrelated adults.           * Immigration status and polit-
Some forms of housing also impact          ical climate. When our founders
the likelihood of being undercounted,      mandated the federal government
as people living in rental properties      conduct a census, they did not restrict
or multi-family dwellings are more         participation to citizens. In spite of the
likely than single-family homes to         Trump administration’s unsuccessful
attempt to add a citizenship question,     work.16 In addition, Latinx families
it is essential that every single person   are less likely to own homes and
residing in the United States have         instead may live in nontraditional
an opportunity to participate in the       living arrangements or low-visibility
2020 Census. However, for many             housing. Those who rent may also
undocumented immigrants living in          be at risk of being undercounted as,
fear of deportation, as well as those      according to the Census, renters are
living in mixed-status homes, the fear     less likely to respond because they
of exposure may contribute toward a        are more mobile.17
sense of apprehension in participating         * The digital divide and lack of
in a government-led survey. Within         digital literacy among the Latinx
the US Latinx community, 34 percent        community. As a cost-saving measure,
of individuals are foreign born, and       the Census Bureau is encouraging
over 70 percent of undocumented            participants to reply online. Yet, not
immigrants are from Latin Ameri-           all communities have access to broad-
ca.12,13 While the Census adheres to       band internet, nor do all individuals
Title 13 of the United States Code,        have the digital literacy needed to par-
requiring strict confidentiality of re-    ticipate in the online Census. While
spondents information, often these         one-third of Americans lack access to
communities are not aware of the           broadband services, approximately 53
confidential nature of the surveys, and    percent of Latino households lack
the current political climate may not      access or experience limited access
quell the concerns and distrust felt       to home broadband services.18 Yet,
by immigrant communities.14 The            even if a Latinx household can afford
Trump administration’s vocal hostility     broadband internet, they may live in
toward immigrant communities, as           a rural community that struggles to
well as the potential for workplace        close the digital divide. Given the
raids, further increases fears among       disparities in digital literacy among the
immigrants hesitant to participate in      Latinx community, substantial online
the Census.15                              participation in the Census may not
     * Nontraditional living arrange-      be a realistic expectation. This may
ments. The type of dwelling a person       explain why, when compared to other
lives in also impacts their ability to     groups, Latinx individuals are more
participate in the Census. Within the      likely to prefer completing the Census
Latinx community, there are various        through traditional paper forms, with
nontraditional living arrangements         75 percent of Latinx individuals saying
to consider, such as immigrants par-       they would prefer to respond to the
ticipating in migratory or seasonal        Census on paper questionnaires.19

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                11
Complexities around the 2020                    In the 2010 Census, the race
Census                                      question confounded the Latinx
The Census is continuously evolving.        community, and nearly 50 percent
Leading up to the release of the 2020       chose “some other race or two or
Census, two proposed changes spurred        more races.” The Census Bureau
debate for their potential impact on        reports that testing the combined race
Latinx participation.                       and ethnicity question led to higher
                                            accuracy and lower non-response
The Race & Ethnicity Question               to the race question.21 Despite the
The Census Bureau collects informa-         opportunity to improve the Census
tion on participants’ race and ethnicity    accuracy, the Trump administration
for purposes of enforcing race-based        denied requests to combine the race
protections, such as anti-discrimina-       and ethnicity question, continuing
tion laws. But for many groups the          the practice of offering two separate
racial and ethnic categories do not         questions that lead to less-accurate
reflect their self-identities. The Census   identification and misrepresentation
asks these questions in two parts: first,   of the Latinx diaspora.
the participant is asked to self-identify
their ethnicity, then the participant is    Trump Administration and the
asked to self-identify their race.          Citizenship Question
    For the Latinx community, ques-         In 2018, the Trump administration
tions around race and ethnicity are         formally announced its intention to
complex and stem from differences           add a citizenship question to the 2020
in language, culture, generations, and      Census for the first time in over 50
histories rooted in colonization. The       years. This question was previously
Latinx population is not a monolith,        removed by the Census Bureau, as it
and each individual person views their      was found to result in an inaccurate
self through a unique ethnocentric          count that disproportionally affected
lens that may not be shared by the          people of color.22 The Department
entire group.20 For example, the same       of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
respondents who identify as Hispanic,       maintained that the citizenship ques-
Latino, or Spanish under the ethnic         tion was necessary to enforce the Voting
question may choose two different           Rights Act of 1965. However, in 2017,
races. Some Latinx may identify with        internal documents from Kansas Sec-
their European roots and choose             retary of State Kris Kobach, a member
White as their race, while others may       of President Trump’s now-defunct
identify with their African roots and       Voter Fraud Commission pointed to
choose Black as their race.                 another motive, saying that “aliens .

12                                             Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
. . are still counted for congressional     states took to the courts to stop the
apportionment purposes.”23 In light of      Trump administration from including
the leaked documents, a likely motive       it in the 2020 Census.
for the citizenship questions was to             In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled
purposely exclude noncitizens from          in Department of Commerce v. New
the Census, impacting the population        York, rejecting the Department of
numbers from which redistricting            Commerce’s claim that the question
lines are drawn and helping red-state       would be used to enforce the Voting
legislatures draw districts that benefit    Rights Act of 1965.
Republicans.                                     While a citizenship question will
    Advocates and states with large         not appear on the 2020 Census, a
hard-to-count populations were con-         chilling effect remains among partici-
cerned that the citizenship question        pants already distrustful of the survey.
would suppress communities with             It is not clear what lasting damage the
large undocumented populations from         proposed question will have for the
completing the Census.                      Latinx count, but for undocumented
    According to random controlled          immigrants and households with a
trials conducted at the John F. Kennedy     mixed immigration status, the fear
School of Government at Harvard             of the Census continues.
University, asking a citizenship ques-
tion greatly suppressed participants of     What Is at Stake for the Latinx
Hispanic origin.24                          Community?
    They concluded:                         As a fast-growing population in the
      [A]sking about citizenship status     United States, the Latinx community
      significantly increases the percent   is entitled to greater political repre-
      of questions skipped, with particu-   sentation and equitable funding. That
      larly strong effects among Hispan-    is why the potential undercount of
      ics, and makes respondents less       the Latinx community in the 2020
      likely to report having Hispanic      Census could have devastating long-
      household members. Aggregating        term effects.
      this to the national level suggests       * Loss of political power and
      that asking a citizenship question    representation. Census data are used
      may lead to an undercounting of       to form federal, state, and local district
      Hispanics of between 5,761,284        boundaries around an equal number
      and 6,382,820 in the 2020 Census      of people for the purposes of politi-
      (based on 2010 figures).25            cal representation. This is to realize
    Fearing the citizenship question        equal political power among every
would lead to an inaccurate count,          individual. If there is an undercount of

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                  13
the Latinx population, their political     How Do We Ensure Latinx
power is diluted in a representative       Participation in the 2020
democracy.                                 Census?
    An undercount of the Latinx pop-       Improving quality of life within the
ulation will impact federal funding        Latinx community depends upon
for various programs the Latinx com-       proportional representation in the
munity relies on:                          2020 Census. Below are recommen-
    * Food and Nutrition. In 2016,         dations that strive to ensure the 2020
Latinx households accounted for            Census accurately captures the size
one-fifth of Supplemental Nutrition        of the Latinx community.
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefi-              * Education on Census. Educa-
ciaries, resulting in approximately        tion will be key to informing respon-
$16 billion in funding.26 In 2015,         dents of the benefits of completing the
Latinxs accounted for 63 percent           Census and allaying the fears around
of participants enrolled in Special        it. Doing so will require sharing infor-
Supplemental Nutrition Program             mation on how the Census informs
for Women, Infants and Children            political representation and federal
(WIC).27 In 2005, Latinx children          funding. Moreover, education should
made up 24 percent of all Nation-          focus on addressing the legitimate fear
al School Lunch Program (NSLP)             respondents feel around sharing their
participants.28                            personal information. Respondents
    * Healthcare. In 2013, Latinxs         must know not only that their infor-
made up 25 percent of Federal Med-         mation will be kept confidential by
ical Assistance Program (Medicaid)         the Census Bureau but also that there
recipients,29 while in 2010, Latinx        are a variety of methods available by
children accounted for 23 percent          which they can respond.
of enrollees in Medicaid/Children’s            * Outreach by trusted messengers.
Health Insurance Program (CHIP).30         Who is messaging and educating the
    * Education Funding. In 2015,          Latinx community about the 2020
the Census helped determine $14            Census is equally important. Assuag-
billion in funding for Title I grants,     ing fears and creating excitement
$11 billion for special education grants   in responding are best conveyed by
to states, and $8 billion for Head         trusted messengers within hard-to-
Start, respectively. With one-third        count communities. Family, com-
of the Latinx community under 18           munity leaders, local governments,
years old, investments in educational      businesses, and community-based
programs like these have tremendous        organizations are best suited to edu-
economic potential.31                      cate Latinx communities about the

14                                            Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
Census and convey it in culturally
competent ways.                           Endnotes
    * Media leverage. Creative and        1   Andrew Reamer, “Counting for Dollars 2020:
efficient use of media can help deliver       The Role of the Decennial Census in the Geo-
                                              graphic Distribution of Federal Funds,” GW
important Census information to a
                                              Institute of Public Policy, 10 February 2020,
large number of people. Investing             accessed 1 March 2020, https://gwipp.gwu.edu/
in ethnic media to convey this in-            counting-dollars-2020-role-decennial-cen-
formation in culturally appropriate           sus-geographic-distribution-federal-funds.
ways will help capture persons in         2   Counting the Hard to Count in a Census
non-English-speaking media mar-               (Washington, DC: US Census Bureau, 2019)
                                              [PDF file].
kets. Creatively using social media
                                          3   For the purposes of this commentary, “Latinx”
to geotarget messaging may also raise         is used interchangeably with the terms “His-
awareness and enthusiasm within the           panic” and “Latino.”
Latinx community.32                       4   California Complete Count – Census 2020
    * Full funding assurance. Achiev-         (California Census 2020) [PDF file].
ing a full count will require a variety   5   Michael Wines and Joes A. Del Real, “In 2020
                                              Census, Big Efforts in Some States. In Others,
of outreach methods to speak to hard-
                                              Not So Much,” New York Times, updated
to-count populations. For that reason,        17 December 2019, https://www.nytimes.
federal and state governments must            com/2019/12/15/us/census-california-texas-un-
increase funding for the Census,              dercount.html.
which will help ensure there are          6   “Hispanic Heritage Month 2019,” US Census
sufficient funds for paid media and           Bureau, 20 August 2019, https://www.census.
                                              gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2019/hispan-
for part-time Census takers to follow
                                              ic-heritage-month.html.
up with residents who have not yet        7   William O’Hare, Deborah Griffin, and Scott
responded to the Census.                      Konicki, Investigating the 2010 Undercount of
    The 2020 Census will prove to             Young Children – Summary of Recent Research
be a pivotal moment for the Latinx            (Washington, DC: US Census Bureau, 2019)
community to define themselves as             [PDF file].
                                          8   William o’Hare et al., “The Invisible Ones:
well as provide an opportunity for
                                              How Latino Children Are Left Out of Our Na-
the Latinx community to secure eq-            tion’s Census Count,” Child Trends, 26 April
uitable representation and resources.         2016, https://www.childtrends.org/publications/
By being counted, Latinx people               the-invisible-ones-how-latino-children-are-left-
increase their visibility among power         out-of-our-nations-census-count.
structures, forcing their needs and       9   Antonio Flores, “2015, Hispanic Population
                                              in the United States Statistical Portrait,”
wants to be considered. The fate of
                                              Pew Research Center, 18 September
this community’s future rests on the          2017, https://www.pewresearch.org/his-
actions it takes today.                       panic/2017/09/18/2015-statistical-informa-

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                          15
tion-on-hispanics-in-united-states/.              21 Kelly Mathews et al., “2015 National Content
10 A Community Speaks: A Report of the National         Test: Race and Ethnicity Analysis Report,”
   Latino Commission on Census 2020 (NALEO              US Census Bureau, 28 February 2017, https://
   Educational Fund, 2019) [PDF file].                  www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decenni-
11 “American Fact Finder,” US Census Bureau,            al-census/2020-census/planning-management/
   accessed 15 January 2020, https://factfinder.        final-analysis/2015nct-race-ethnicity-analysis.
   census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/pro-        html.
   ductview.xhtml?src=bkmk.                          22 “Commerce Department’s Adminis-
12 Flores, “2015, Hispanic Population in the            trative Record For Census Citizenship
   United States Statistical Portrait.”                 Question Lawsuits,” NPR, https://apps.
13 Jeffrey S. Passel and D’Vera Cohn, “Mexicans         npr.org/documents/document.htm-
   decline to less than half the U.S. unauthorized      l?id=4500011-1-18-Cv-02921-Administra-
   immigrant population for the first time,” Pew        tive-Record.
   Research Center (blog), 12 June 2019, https://    23 “Commerce Department’s Administrative
   www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/12/            Record,” NPR.
   us-unauthorized-immigrant-population-2017/.       24 Matthew A. Baum et al., Estimating the
14 “Title 13, U.S. Code | History,” US Census           Effect of Asking About Citizenship on the U.S.
   Bureau, n.d., https://www.census.gov/history/        Census: Results from a Randomized Controlled
   www/reference/privacy_confidentiality/               Trial (Cambridge, MA: Shorenstein Center on
   title_13_us_code.html.                               Media, Politics and Public Policy, 2019) [PDF
15 Miriam Jordan and Caitlin Dickerson, “As             file].
   Trump Threatens Deportations, Immigrant           25 Baum et al., Estimating the Effect of Asking
   Communities Brace for New Arrests,”                  About Citizenship on the U.S. Census.
   New York Times, 18 June 2019, https://www.        26 “SNAP Helps Millions of Latinos,” Center
   nytimes.com/2019/06/18/us/immigra-                   on Budget and Policy Priorities, updated 26
   tion-raids-fear-families.html.                       February 2018, https://www.cbpp.org/research/
16 A Community Speaks (NALEO Educational                food-assistance/snap-helps-millions-of-latinos.
   Fund).                                            27 “WIC 2015 Eligibility and Coverage
17 “2020 Census: Renters,” US Census Bureau,            Rates,” US Department of Agriculture, 25
   26 February 2020, https://www.census.gov/            April 2018, https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/
   newsroom/press-kits/2020/2020-census-renters.        wic-2015-eligibility-and-coverage-rates.
   html.                                             28 Katherine Ralston et al., The National School
18 “Internet/Broadband Fact Sheet,” Pew                 Lunch Program Background, Trends, and Issues
   Research Center, 12 June 2019, https://              (economic research report no. ERR-61; Wash-
   www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/             ington, DC: US Department of Agriculture,
   internet-broadband/.                                 2008) [PDF file].
19 A Community Speaks (NALEO Educational             29 “Medicaid & CHIP,” Kaiser Family Founda-
   Fund).                                               tion, n.d., https://www.kff.org/state-category/
20 Jorge González and Robert Santos, “Separat-          medicaid-chip/medicaid-beneficiaries/.
   ing Race from Ethnicity in Surveys Risks an       30 Christine Coyer and Genevieve M. Kenney,
   Inaccurate Picture of the Latinx Community,”         “The Composition of Children Enrolled in
   Urban Wire (blog), https://www.urban.org/            Medicaid and CHIP: Variation over Time
   urban-wire/separating-race-ethnicity-sur-            and by Race and Ethnicity,” Urban Institute,
   veys-risks-inaccurate-picture-latinx-community.      29 March 2013, https://www.urban.org/

16                                                       Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
research/publication/composition-chil-
   dren-enrolled-medicaid-and-chip-varia-
   tion-over-time-and-race-and-ethnicity.
31 Eileen Patten, “The Nation’s Latino Population
   Is Defined by Its Youth,” Pew Research Center,
   20 April 2016, https://www.pewresearch.org/
   hispanic/2016/04/20/the-nations-latino-popula-
   tion-is-defined-by-its-youth/.
32 A Community Speaks (NALEO Educational
   Fund).

Volume 32 | 2020                                   17
Feature
Still Unrepresented:
A 10-Year Look at the Diversity Crisis on
Capitol Hill

                                      Congressional Hispanic
                                      Staff Association

The Congressional Hispanic            Editor’s Note:
Staff Association (CHSA) is an        The Harvard Kennedy School Journal
                                      of Hispanic Policy published a report
official, nonpartisan, bicameral
                                      prepared by CHSA titled “Unrepre-
congressional staff organization,     sented: A Blueprint for Solving the
recognized by the Committee           Diversity Crisis on Capitol Hill” in
on House Administration, whose        Volume 22 in 2010. Ten years later,
mission is to recruit, retain, and    we partnered again with CHSA to
                                      update the report and publish it on
advance Hispanic staffers in the
                                      our pages.
US Senate and US House of
Representatives. For three decades,
CHSA has served as a professional     Abstract
development catalyst, peer support    A decade ago, the Congressional
                                      Hispanic Staff Association (CHSA)
system, and personal enrichment       released a groundbreaking report,
organization for numerous Latino      “Unrepresented: A Blueprint for Solv-
congressional staffers. Today,        ing the Diversity Crisis on Capitol
CHSA continues to push for more       Hill.” The 2010 report found that
                                      Latinos were drastically underrepre-
diversity on Capitol Hill.
                                      sented in the Senate and House of
                                      Representatives, especially among

18                                       Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
senior positions. The report made          Latinos for only 3.7 percent of their
several recommendations to improve         top positions, and newly elected House
diversity so that the halls of Congress    members hired Latinos for only 6.5
would look more like the America it        percent of their senior staff.
represents.                                    There were several positive steps
                                           taken over the past decade to im-
                                           prove diversity on Capitol Hill. Senate
“There is a crisis afflicting
                                           Democrats have led the way with
Capitol Hill.” – 2010 CHSA                 establishing a robust diversity office,
Report                                     and the result has been a significant
                                           increase in Latinos breaking into
    There have been some positive          senior positions. Senate Democrats
developments over the past decade,         started collecting demographic data
with Latinos making up a greater           in 2017. The House of Representa-
portion of congressional staff than ever   tives has followed suite, with House
before. In the House, Latinos have         Democrats establishing a diversity
grown from making up 5.8 percent           office in 2017. In 2019, Democrats
of all staff to 12.2 percent. There are    and Republicans in the House es-
now more Latinos in senior positions       tablished the Office of Diversity and
in the Senate, and more Latinos are        Inclusion to work for both parties and
being hired for entry-level positions.     conducted a House-wide diversity
    However, the diversity crisis re-      compensation study.
mains. Latinos, who make up nearly             The diversity offices are making a
one in every five Americans, are still     positive difference, but much more
drastically underrepresented among         work remains to have a congressio-
senior positions and on key commit-        nal staff makeup that embodies all
tees. There are no Latino staff direc-     Americans. Enacting CHSA’s recom-
tors in the Senate. There is almost        mendations in this report will help
no Democratic Latino staff on the          address the diversity crisis. Together,
three top Senate committees. In the        we can help Congress better reflect
House, the number of Latino chiefs         and serve America
of staff would have to increase more
than five times to be representative       Introduction
of the nearly one in five Americans        Policies impacting all Americans are
of Latino descent.                         decided in a Congress where Latinos
    Unfortunately, looking at the newly    are largely absent from top-level staff
elected members provides little opti-      positions. Nearly one in every five
mism. Newly elected Senators hired         Americans is Latino, but Congress

Volume 32 | 2020                                                              19
gets few Latino perspectives on critical   Senate
decisions affecting our communities,
our economy, and whether we are at         Senate Personal Offices
war or peace.                              There has been some progress in
    Ten years ago, CHSA released the       having more Latinos among top-lev-
report “Unrepresented: A Blueprint         el staff in Senate personal offices.
for Solving the Diversity Crisis on        In the Senate, there are now three
Capitol Hill,” exposing the lack of        Latino Senate Democratic chiefs
Latinos on the Hill. Over the past         of staff, three deputy chiefs of staff,
decade, many positive steps were taken     four legislative directors, and three
to ensure that congressional staffing      communications directors. While this
is more reflective of the American         is still far short of being equitable, it
public. Senate leaders like Senators       signals some progress from ten years
Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer have          ago, when Latinos were almost com-
led the way in establishing a Senate       pletely absent from these positions.
Diversity Initiative and in starting to
track and publicize data. The Rooney                                 2010      201516 2020
Rule (diversity) principals have been       Chiefs of Staff          1         3         3
encouraged amongst Senate Demo-
                                            Deputy Chief of Staff    0         1         3
crats and more recently in the House.
The House has created a diversity           Legislative Director     1         3         417
office for both parties, and funding has    Total                    2         7         10
been allocated to pay personal office
                                           Senior Staffing among Senate offices,
interns in the House and the Senate.       2010–2020
These efforts are commendable and
should be applauded.                           In 2015, the 54-seat Republican
    More Latinos than ever are on          majority had four senior staff who
the Hill in entry-level and junior         were Latino versus only three for
positions. However, the crisis remains.    Democrats. Five years later, Dem-
Latinos remain largely absent from         ocrats now have ten senior staffers,
top senior-level positions and key         a tripling of their 2015 mark. This
committee positions. The data are          suggests that Democratic efforts to
clear: Latinos are almost completely       increase diversity are paying off and
shut out from senior staff positions       should be adopted across the aisle.
on Capitol Hill. This report focuses           While these gains warrant recog-
on Latinos, but other minorities are       nition, Latinos are still drastically
also being denied a seat at the table      underrepresented, and more work
where key policy decisions are made.       remains ahead of us. If staffing re-

20                                             Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
flected the population of the Ameri-       did not collect committee data in its
can public, there would be 18 Latino       2010 report. However, a 2015 Joint
chiefs of staff instead of only 3.         Center study found there was not a
    A 2015 study by the Joint Center       single Latino among the 39 Republi-
for Political and Economic Studies         can and Democratic committee staff
(Joint Center) found that out of 336       directors. Five years later, nothing has
top US Senate staffers (chiefs of staff,   changed. If representative of the na-
legislative directors, communications      tion’s Latino population, there should
directors, and staff directors), only 7    be at least 7 Latino staff directors, but
were Latinos. This is only 2.1 percent     not one of the 39 Republican and
of senior-level staff for a population     Democrat staff directors of full Senate
that compromised 17.6 percent of           committees was Latino at the start of
the total US population at that time.      2020. Furthermore, there are also
Overall, only 24 of the top Senate         no African American staff directors.
staffers were people of color (POC).
    Senate Democrats have collected                                  2015   2019
and released general diversity data         Latino Staff Directors   0      0
for personal offices in July of 2017,
                                           Senate Latino Committee Staff Directors,
2018, and 2019, but so far, we are
                                           2015–2020
not seeing much improvement. Out
of the 43 Senate Democratic senators          The data collected and publicized
serving from 2017 through 2019,            by Senate Democrats showed only 2
less than half have improved upon          out of 18 Democrat-staffed commit-
the percentage of Latinos in their         tees to have Latinos near or above
office. In fact, 19 Senate offices have    the 18 percent that would reflect
had a decrease in the percentage of        the Latino general population. The
staff that are Latino, while 4 offices     Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,
maintained the same percentage,            led by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM),
including two offices that had no          has a staff that is 29 percent Latino,
Latinos in 2017, and still had no          and the Special Committee on Aging,
Latinos two years later. Unfortunate-      led by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA),
ly, Senate Republicans do not collect      has a staff that is 20 percent Latino.
data on diversity, so we do not know          Five Senate committees have
whether they are improving.                no Democrat Latino staff at all.
                                           These includes some of the most
Senate Committees                          powerful committees: Agriculture,
Committee staff play a critically im-      Armed Services, Banking, Finance,
portant role in shaping policy. CHSA       and Rules.1 According to the Senate

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                     21
Democratic survey, the Agriculture,            All "A"
                                                                 2017 2018 2019    Total
Armed Services, Banking, and Rules             committees
committees have not had a Latino               Agriculture,
Democrat staffer for three consecutive         Nutrition, and     0     0     0       0
                                               Forestry
years, since at least 30 June 2017.
The Agriculture, Armed Services,               Appropriations     0     0    5%    1.7%
and Rules committees also lacked               Armed Services     0     0     0       0
a single Democrat staffer who was              Banking,
African American.                              Housing, and       0     0     0       0
   Senate Democrat Caucus rules                Urban Affairs
designate three committees as “Su-             Commerce,
                                               Science, and      4%    4%    7%    5.0%
per A” committees: Appropriations,             Transportation
Armed Services, and Finance.2 But
                                               Energy and
Latinos are largely absent from the            Natural           27%   14%   11%   17.3%
three committees designated to be              Resources
the most important by Democratic               Finance           4%     0     0    1.3%
leaders. Between 30 June 2017 and
                                               Foreign Affairs   8%    7%    7%    7.3%
30 June 2019, Latinos have made
                                               Health,
up only 1 percent of staff of the top          Education,
Super A committees.                                              11%   7%    14%   10.7%
                                               Labor and
                                               Pensions

Super A                           Total        Homeland
               2017 2018 2019                  Security and
Committees                        (average)                      4%    4%    3%    3.7%
                                               Governmental
Appropriations 0     0      5%    2%           Affairs
Armed Services 0     0      0     0            Judiciary         12%   9%    13%   11.3%
Finance        4%    0      0     1%           Total             6.4% 4.1% 5.5%    5.3%
Total          1%    0      2%    1%          Democratic Latino Staff on Senate “A”
                                              Committees, 2017–2019
Democratic Latino Staff on “Super A”
Committees, 2017–2019                            There is no substantive data col-
                                              lected on the Senate Republican
    Looking at all the A committees,          committees, but anecdotal evidence
Latinos made up only 5.3 percent              suggests Republicans fair no better
of these important policy positions,          when it comes to hiring Latinos. On
including a decline of nearly 1 per-          both sides of the aisle, the number
cent from 2017 to 2019. Latinos are           of Latinos making policy on Senate
simply not in the room where policy           committees is abysmally low. Put
decisions happen.                             simply, Latinos are not proportionally
represented in the room where key         If Latino staffing reflected the per-
policy decisions happen.                  centage of Latinos in America, there
                                          would be nearly 80 Latino chiefs of
House of Representatives                  staff in the House.
According to the 2019 House Em-
ployment Survey, Latinos made up an                                    2009   2020

estimated 12.2 percent of all House        Chiefs of Staff             12         18
Staff.3 This more than doubles the         Legislative Director         9         19
5.6 percent of House staff estimated       If proportional to Latino
to be Latino in the 2009 House em-                                     67         80
                                           percent of population
ployment survey.
                                          Democratic Latino Staff on Senate “A”
                                          Committees, 2017–2019

                                             The Joint Center for Political and
                                          Economic Studies examined diversity
                                          among all chiefs of staff, legislative
                                          directors, and communications direc-
                                          tors in September 2018 and found
                                          that only 45 Latinos among these
Latino Staff in the House of              top 1,100 positions, or 4.1 percent.4
Representatives, 2009–2019
                                             However, the 2019 House Em-
    CHSA’s 2010 report found that         ployment Survey found slightly larger
Latinos were drastically underrep-        numbers for these positions. They
resented in senior positions in the       found that Latinos made 7.1 per-
House. Out of the 440 elected con-        cent of all House chiefs of staff and
gressional members, only 12 had           deputy chiefs of staff, 8.3 percent of
Latino chief of staffs, and only 9 had    legislative directors, and 11.4 percent
legislative directors. If Latinos were    of communications directors.5 The
hired in proportion to the population     survey also found that Latinos make
at the time, there would have been        up 6.6 percent of professional staff on
67 Latino chiefs of staff and another     House committees. 6 Looking at staff
67 legislative directors.                 directors and deputy staff directors,
    The 2010 report was hopeful we        Latinos made up 4 percent.
could close the gap. There has been          The House has taken several im-
an increase in Latino chiefs of staff     portant steps recently that could pay
and legislative directors, but this has   dividends over the coming years. In
not even kept pace with the increase      2017, the House Democratic Caucus
of Latinos in the general population.     adopted a diversity initiative as part of

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                      23
their Caucus rules, and they hired a        Republicans and two Democrats. The
diversity director in November of that      new senators represent states includ-
year to start ramping up this effort.       ing Arizona (31.6 percent Latino8),
In 2019, a House Office of Diversity        Nevada (29 percent9), and Florida
and Inclusion was created as part           (26.1 percent10), where Latinos make
of the House rules package. Both            up over a quarter of the general pop-
Democratic and Republican staff were        ulation. The Joint Center found that
hired to focus on each party and with       out of the nine offices, not a single
the intent to hire additional staff to      chief of staff was Latino, not a single
focus on recruitment and leadership         legislative director was Latino, and
development on a bipartisan basis.          only one of the communications di-
This office helped conduct the 2019         rectors, hired by Nevada Democratic
House survey of offices, but delays         Senator Jacky Rosen, was Latino.11
have so far prevented efforts to fully      Overall, this means that Latinos made
staff up.                                   up just 3.7 percent of senior position
    Similarly, the House Democratic         hires for freshman Senate offices.
Caucus has included a diversity rule in
                                                                Hires of             Latino
their rules but have yet to fully imple-                                 Total
                                             Position           Latino               Percentage
ment it. CHSA understands that it takes                                  Hires
                                                                Decent               of Hires
time to get offices set up and running to    Chief of Staff         0         9         0.0%
see the full impact. We applaud House
                                             Legislative
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Leader                                  0         9         0.0%
                                             Director
Kevin McCarthy, and their House
                                             Communications
colleagues for setting up the House                                 1         9        11.1%
                                             Director
Office of Diversity and Inclusion and        Total                  1        27         3.7%
urge them to move forward as quickly
                                            Senior Latino Hires Newly Elected Senate
as possible to fully implement and staff
                                            Offices, 2019
this important office.7
                                               The House had 92 newly elected
New Members                                 members, including 6 newly elected
Newly elected members can serve             Latino members. Out of these 92 fresh-
as bellwethers for efforts to increase      men members, only four chief of staffs,
diversity. They must hire an entire         seven legislative directors, and seven
office staff upon taking office, whereas    communications directors were hires
returning members only hire period-         of Latino decent. Only 4.3 percent of
ically when positions open.                 chiefs of staff for new members were
    There were nine newly elected sen-      Latino, and only 6.5 percent of all new
ators sworn into office in 2019—seven       senior hires were Latino.12

24                                              Harvard Kennedy School Journal of Hispanic Policy
Hires of         Latino       Diversity and Inclusion was passed
                             Total
 Position           Latino           Percentage   into law but has not yet been fully
                             Hires
                    Decent           of Hires     implemented. This office should be
 Chief of Staff       4       92       4.3%       made permanent and fully funded.
 Legislative
                      7       92       7.6%
 Director                                         Recommendation 2: Commit
 Communications
                      7       92       7.6%
                                                  to Systematic Ongoing
 Director                                         Demographic Data Collection
 Total                18      276      6.5%       In 2017, Senate Democrats were the
Senior Latino Hires Newly Elected House
                                                  first to start collecting annual demo-
Offices, 2019                                     graphic data and making them public;
                                                  the House conducted a bipartisan sur-
    Latinos are still unrepresented in            vey in 2019. This has provided useful
senior positions even with new offices.           information, but CHSA recommends
Latino senior staffers can aid these              committing to systematic and ongoing
offices in their ability to understand            demographic data collection.
Latino priorities and concerns. Yet, the              Rather than having surveys that
stark lack of Latinos in key positions            require staff to respond annually, we
hinders Senate and House offices’                 recommend collecting demographic
efforts to represent the best interests           data when staffers are hired. This
of their constituents.                            would increase the data accuracy,
                                                  ensure access to the most up-to-date
Recommendations                                   information, and save time for con-
                                                  gressional staff by not requiring an
Recommendation 1:                                 annual survey.
Diversity Offices Should                              The rest of the federal government
Be Fully Funded, Staffed,                         collects data in this way, getting the
and Supported                                     demographic information when the
Senate Democrats have so far set                  individual is first hired and then keep-
the bar with their diversity office in            ing a running tally. This results in
operation for over a decade now. More             better, completely up-to-date informa-
positive results could be achieved if             tion with much less effort. Congress
additional funding allowed Senate                 should follow this example and collect
Democrats to amplify their efforts.               demographic data upon hire.
    Republican Senate Leader Mitch                    Additionally, it is critical that data
McConnell should create a similar                 released include a breakdown for
office for Senate Republicans. On                 entry-level, mid-level, and senior staff.
the House side, the House Office of               Surveys should differentiate between a

Volume 32 | 2020                                                                        25
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