I absolutely know that issues exist and they are cultural and they are baked into society,

but that doesn't mean we don't have an obligation to try.

That's what I'm doing.

That's what we all have to do, and we have to do it together.

From Futuro Media and PRX, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria Injoosa. Today, a conversation with

Robert Santos, the first Latino to lead the U.S. Census Bureau.

Dear listener, you might remember that in 2019,

the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's push to include a question about citizenship status in the 2020 census.

Well, in early May of 2024, House Republicans passed a bill that is reminiscent of those very same efforts.

The, quote, equal representation act is a measure that seeks to include a citizenship question on the

next census, scheduled for 2030, and to exclude people who are not citizens from the census count.

That bill now sits with the majority Democrat Senate. And so, dear listener, we felt that it was important to share

with you again, a conversation that we had with Robert Santos, who is the director of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Santos told us why being counted in the census is important, and what exactly he was doing to rebuild

trust among communities.

Here's my conversation with Robert Santos from 2022.

President Joe Biden announced last April that his intended nominee to lead the U.S.

Census would be Robert Santos.

Then just a few weeks later,

Santos went before the Senate Homeland Security Committee for his confirmation hearing. It's an honor and I'm humbled to appear before you today as the nominee for the director

of the Census Bureau. I'd like to thank the President and Secretary Ramando for the trust they

have placed in me with this nomination. Santos is super proud about being born and raised in the

...