Carassco strikes again

[fedupinwaukegan]

So the boycott is still on?




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Counting Shadows

Written by Michael Puente PHOTO: Marta Garcia | 01 March 2010

Ten years ago, the Latino population hit a milestone by becoming the largest minority group in the United States. Since hitting that 35.6 million mark, the Latino population has surged past 44 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

That number is expected to increase, but if Margaret Carrasco has her way, it won’t go up as much as others would like it to – which could mean millions lost in tax dollars to municipalities and perhaps diminished representation in Congress for certain areas of the country.

Carrasco supports a boycott of the 2010 census count by undocumented Latino immigrants in an effort to pressure President Barack Obama and Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. She’s helping to arrange local efforts to undermine the work of Latino groups who are partnering with the Census Bureau to count as many Latinos as possible, whether they’re citizens, legally resident non-U.S. citizens or undocumented immigrants. “I’m not against the purpose of the census. I understand it,” the says the 50-year-old immigration-reform activist from Waukegan. “We know what the implications are, but we want to bring attention to the ramifications on our community and how families are being destroyed” by the lack of a comprehensive immigration reform.

The Constitution requires the U.S. population be counted every 10 years. “Census data is used to determine how to distribute $400 billion in federal funding all across the country,” says Raul E. Cisneros, chief of the 2010 publicity office of the U.S. Census Bureau. “Distribution is based on population.”

In 2000, census forms were printed in 17 languages. This year, they have been printed in 20 languages, Spanish among them. On January, the bureau launched an effort to build participation in the Latino community.

Cisneros says the census form consists of 10 questions and does not ask for bank account numbers, Social Security numbers or immigration status. He says data on census forms is not shared with other agencies of the U.S. government. “All data is protected by laws, very strict laws,” Cisneros says.

Census data also helps draw up congressional maps, meaning some areas of the country with population gains could gain seats in Congress, while others may lose out if population diminishes or doesn’t keep pace with other areas. The overall importance and influence that census data holds is why some Hispanic groups feel the call for a boycott is reckless and undermines efforts to improve the lives of undocumented immigrants.

“Those calls for a boycott are immoral and irresponsible. Making sure that every immigrant is counted will not only help our nation, but it is vital to the future well-being of the immigrant community itself,” says Rosalind Gold, senior director of policy, research and advocacy for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO).

Gold, whose group is based in Los Angeles, says census data is used to distribute federal funding to programs that assist immigrant communities, including new schools, adult education, healthcare, public safety and transportation.

“These are all issues that affect immigrants and their families,” Gold says. “If immigrants aren’t counted, their communities are not going to get the fair share of resources they need to address these issues. If immigrants want to build better lives for themselves and their families, it’s very important that they be counted.”

Gold says the call to boycott the census is coming from a small minority within the Latino community.

Small or not, the Rev. Miguel Rivera is determined to build support for the boycott. He he says undocumented immigrants won’t benefit by participating.

“It is immoral to ask the 12 million undocumented immigrants to come and step out of the shadows just to be counted, to use their numbers to get more money for the cities [from] which they are not benefiting equitably,” says Rivera, chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which represents more than 20,000 Hispanic Christian churches and faith-based ministries in 34 states.

Rivera sees the boycott as a pastoral obligation. He also believes participation by undocumented immigrants can actually work against them.

“It is very dishonest and very immoral for the people from NALEO and the [Census Bureau] not to even realize that [...] the census has been used against undocumented immigrants,” Rivera says. “The additional funding a community would receive because illegal immigrants are counted could be used against them by the hiring of more police officers and get more prisons built to have them arrested and jailed.”

Like Carrasco, Rivera says he feels Obama betrayed the community by not pushing through Congress comprehensive immigration reform in his first year in office, as he says the president promised. Rivera says Congress must agree to give “some type of legalization” and/or a “temporary protective status” for every undocumented immigrant, along with a permit to work in the United States, before the boycott is called off.

Rivera says U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants does not have to be included in the reform. He says reform needs to “give undocumented immigrants a chance to get out of the shadows, get a worker’s visa, learn the [English] language and start dealing with all the issues they need to deal with, including paying taxes.”

“If Congress complies with the promise, then we will have an excellent census count,” he says. “If not, it’s going to be a disaster, I can assure you.”

Cook County Commissioner Edwin Reyes says such a boycott will hurt the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois and Latinos in general. “We’re talking about millions and millions of dollars that would go to help service schools, hospitals, roads, bridges and job training. Latinos need to be on the receiving side of those entities. And we’re trying to get more representation of Latinos in Congress,” Reyes says. “So the boycotters would literally be hurting themselves.”

Census spokesman Cisneros isn’t interested in getting into a debate with boycott organizers. His main concern is getting the census going and processed by the bureau’s deadine, Dec. 31.

“It’s a challenge and we’re going to work at it,” Cisneros says. “We’re going to be very busy this year.”

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