'Our Democracy Is Under Siege': Lightfoot Announces New Campaign For 2020 Census

CHICAGO (CBS)-- Mayor Lightfoot announced a new campaign on Wednesday to encourage participation in the 2020 U.S. Census.

In order to highlight "the power of justice" through the Census, Lightfoot unveiled painted boards made to inspire communities. "Paint The City" is a local organization providing messages of hope and positivity throughout the city. There are over 50 diverse artists participating in Chicago neighborhoods.

"These boards, will become tools to inspire change through the power of justice we'll be doing ,with the Census we'll be having teams on the ground in our communities, helping folks register to vote and go to the polls," she said. 

Lightfoot also addressed her view of President Trump as a threat to the country's democracy.

"We are meeting at a moment when our democracy is under siege from multiple directions, to those who think I'm referring to President Trump and his brazen corruption, and attack on our institutions, I'll save you the suspense, I am," Lightfoot said. "Our democracy is under siege because we are losing the respectful engagement democracy, demands in alarming ways."

Representation and engagement remain the focus of the city's push to encourage participation in the 2020 Census.

"We also have a unique opportunity to have our voices for, collectively, through the sense," Lightfoot said. "If you don't fill it out, you get left out. If you are not counted, you give your power, you give your voice away to someone else."

Lightfoot also addressed the concern over Census response rates among immigrant populations, and specifically among undocumented immigrants, despite President Trump's attempts to exclude them from the Census.

"I can't exclude them, and any attempt to do so we will take them to court and he will lose like he has before, but we are concerned about the undercount and we've been concerned about that really since we kicked off our campaign over a year ago," Lightfoot said.