U.S. census is immigration debate's newest flashpoint

[Jeanfromfillmore]

U.S. census is immigration debate's newest flashpoint
BY CINDY CARCAMO
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
In Santa Ana, faith-based groups are teaching church leaders to preach the gospel of the U.S. census, encouraging legal and illegal immigrants to participate in hopes it will lead to immigration reform.
At the same time, an anti-illegal immigration group in Huntington Beach is urging U.S. citizens to fill out only one census question saying they don't want to be counted alongside those who are in the country illegally.
As America prepares for the government's count that launches mid-March, the census is fast becoming the latest battleground in the heated immigration debate. Nationally and locally, groups on both sides of the issue are urging their troops to either boycott or participate in the census to send a message to decision makers in Washington, D.C.
Immigration activists have attempted to politicize the census since the 1980s, said Vincent Barabba, a former Census Bureau director who served under President Ronald Reagan.
Still, others say this year's census is particularly a lightning rod for immigration activists because of the faltering economy, which is fanning already-flared tensions about the issue.
"I think there is a very deeply felt anti-immigrant mood. I think it's deeper and more intense than past census periods," said Doris Meissner, who was Immigration and Naturalization Services commissioner during the 2000 census and is now a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Migration Policy Institute.
Immigrant rights activists urging legal immigrants and those in the country illegally to be counted are tying the count to possible immigration reform. At the same time, a group of church leaders on the East Coast are pushing for immigrants to boycott the census unless immigration reform passes. And then there are those calling for a halt to immigration enforcement actions until the count is done.
On the other side of the aisle, a legislator unsuccessfully pushed census officials to amend the questionnaire to ask the respondent's legal status. The proposal excited anti-illegal immigration activists, who launched an e-mail campaign to push for the measure. Those same people are now blasting e-mails to their members, asking them to send a message to Washington by answering only one of 10 questions asked by the census.
The census – done once every 10 years — is a source of contention because it helps determine federal representation, dollars, and ultimately services for municipalities.
"It's sort of a political event because the representation of the country is based on it," Barabba said. "However, it is not partisan. That's the key point. It doesn't favor any one party and any one group. It is what it is – a count of the inhabitants of the states."
CENSUS AS A COMPONENT TO IMMIGRATION REFORM
Local groups are using the count to make a statement.
While the census won't ask respondents about legal status, immigrant rights groups are actively urging legal immigrants and those in the country illegally to be counted in Orange County.
Last weekend, faith-based immigrant activists held training sessions with church leaders from Templo Calvario in Santa Ana, where the majority of parishioners are legal immigrants or in the country illegally.
Tying the census to immigration reform is a new approach, said Moises Escalante, an organizer with Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. The organization is in the midst of training church leaders how to encourage parishioners to be counted.
"The most important issue for these people ... is the issue of having a just and comprehensive immigration reform," Escalante said. "(The census) may help to bring immigration reform into discussion in Congress."
Escalante said his group is training church leaders at three predominantly-immigrant churches in the county – La Puerta Abierta in Westminster and Getsemani Presbyterian Church in Anaheim and Templo Calvario – to get their message out to parishioners.
"If we are asking people to be counted we need to be telling people why it is important," he said.
That's where immigration reform steps in, Escalante said.
That's also one of the reasons The Orange County Dream Team is pushing their members to participate in the census. The group supports the DREAM Act, which would allow students in the country illegally to apply for legal permanent resident status. The act would also protect students from deportation and make them eligible for student loans and federal work study programs.
"The country, once again, will see how we are represented in large numbers and how much immigration reform would make sense," said Vanessa Castillo, advocate chair for the organization supporting the DREAM Act.
Even the Mexican Consulate in Santa Ana is taking a more active role in promoting the census compared to years before.
On a recent Friday a couple of census representatives spoke with the dozens of people waiting at the consulate's lobby.
They passed out a Spanish-English booklet with the following emblazoned in the front: "Ya es hora. Hagase contar!" ("Now is the time. Make yourself count!")
ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION GROUP BOYCOTT
In Huntington Beach, California Coalition for Immigration Reform members are still upset about the failure of a proposal that would have asked the respondent's legal status. The group believes people who are in the country illegally should not be counted, said coalition leader Barbara Coe.
"We've tried in the past to negate the effort of counting illegal aliens and quite obviously never been successful," Coe said. "At least at this point in time we can urge people to not give them any additional information."
Coe said it is the first time she has asked her members to not fully participate in the census. She plans to launch an e-mail blitz soon about boycotting all but one question in the census to thousands of her members, she said.
"We should not be represented in any way, shape or form with the illegal aliens in our community." Coe said. "The number of illegal aliens in our various and assorted district will have the ultimate impact on how many representatives are from the state of California.
"I do not care if there are fewer representatives of California when the number would include people who do not represent loyal Americans but represent illegal aliens," she said.
The point of the census is to count those who are living in the country, regardless of legal status, said Stephen Buckner, spokesman for the Census Bureau in Washington, D.C.
"It's pretty clear what the Constitution says ... we must count every single resident living within the United States," Buckner said. "It doesn't distinguish between citizens and non-citizens or people who are not here with documents. The census is an apolitical organization."
http://www.ocregister.com/news/censu...on-reform.html

[Mikell]

Of course, it's all about money.


With Money on the Line, Local Governments Urge Illegal Immigrants to Fill Out Census

"Cities, counties and states that haven't been very kind to illegal immigrants over the years are suddenly dusting off their welcome mats. With the 2010 census about to get under way, those undocumented residents will be worth a lot of money for the next few weeks."

William Gheen, president of the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), said that counting undocumented residents for the purposes of the census "undermines" the electoral process -- he said on that basis, immigrant-heavy places like Southern California could qualify for far more funding and representation than immigrant-light places like Maine.

"It is intrinsically unfair and abusive to American citizens," Gheen said. He said Congress should eventually exclude all data from illegal immigrants for funding and apportionment decisions and allow it to be used instead for enforcement. Plus, he said, counting illegal immigrants in the census is part of a "de facto amnesty" policy.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...est=latestnews

[StokeyBob]

I've heard that early Census records were used to round up the Japanese during World War Two.

p.s. I also think part of the reason behind it was for their safety.

[StokeyBob]

The census is an apolitical organization.

Good one.

[Patriotic Army Mom]

Can't wait to write American on this census. Maybe they will come and visit me, to see if I really am.

[Mikell]

In 2000 a census taker came to my house. She asked what my heritage/ethnicity was and I told her American.