2020 census to run ads on ‘Premio lo Nuestro’

The U.S. Census Bureau is set to run advertisements during Spanish-language network Univision’s longest-running awards show, a move that comes after a controversy over a nixed proposal to include a citizenship question.

The ads will run on “Premio lo Nuestro,” a popular-choice music awards show that last year reached more than 7 million viewers, according to the network.

To complement the ads, singer Prince Royce will tout census participation in his red carpet interviews during the show.

New York-born Royce is mostly known for bachata, a genre of Latin music from the Dominican Republic, where his parents immigrated from.

Royce has won 17 times at “Premio lo Nuestro,” out of 22 nominations.

The ad comes as the Census Bureau is amping up its efforts to increase participation in the 2020 census, which will determine congressional representation and the distribution of federal spending for the next decade.

The bureau on Tuesday announced a massive ad campaign to reach 99 percent of households in the country.

The campaign includes ads in 12 languages, including five different ads in Spanish.

Activists and Hispanic leaders have warned against potential depressed participation among Hispanics in the 2020 census, particularly after the controversy over the Trump administration’s proposed citizenship question.

The Trump administration last July nixed a plan to include a question on citizenship in the census, which opponents criticized as a move to depress participation among foreign nationals, including immigrants without legal status.

Census information cannot be shared with law enforcement.

The census counts all people living in the United States, regardless of immigration status, to adequately apportion representation and spending.

The census citizenship question had been a key policy proposal driven by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, but the administration backed down after a Supreme Court ruling blocked it.

—Updated at 2:05 p.m.