Hidalgo and Cameron counties are urging residents to fill out the census before its new deadline on September 30, 2020. 

“I don’t know that we’re going to be able to make up the amount of time, or the percentage to reach what we achieved in 2010,” Cameron County Clerk Sylvia Garza-Perez said.

With the new deadline in place, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez said the pandemic is another reason why numbers might be low, but shouldn’t be a reason to give up just yet. 

“We're the hotspot. The Valley is the hotspot. So it's coming at the worst time for us to be the hotspot of COVID-19 in the United States, because it interferes with the census,” Cortez said. "Let's not look for an excuse to fail. Let's all get together and let's get this done. Because if we all help each other and we all take a small part in it, and do our share, then we can get it done."

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