With the 2010 U.S. Census set to begin in March, members of the Latino community are at odds over their participation in the decennial survey. Some fear that the census data collected by the government could provide an inaccurate tally of the population. “Concerns about an accurate count of the Latino community partly stem from the outcome of the 2000 census, when the Census Bureau estimated that it over-counted the total population by 1.3 million people while under-counting Hispanics by 250,000.” [1]
Accurate census data that reflects the true makeup of the population is of great importance; decisions regarding the distribution of federal funding for community projects and political representation rely heavily upon information culled from the census. An inaccurate representation of the population could lead to the loss of federal dollars for services that would benefit the Latino community.
The language barrier is one of the principal threats to the accuracy of the Latino count. Advocates are hopeful that the government will hire additional Spanish-speaking census workers to conduct field interviews and outreach with Latinos who may be wary of completing census forms. The Census Bureau announced that 13 million bilingual census forms would be printed to promote increased participation in the government headcount.
Undocumented immigrants within the Hispanic community are far less likely to complete census forms out of fear of an investigation or raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), though the Census Bureau asserts that the information collected is not shared with other government agencies and is kept confidential for a period of 72 years.
Hispanic advocacy groups have been running informational campaigns to educate Hispanics about the census and to encourage participation. The Latino interest group known as the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) even went so far as to create Christmas-themed census posters “showing Mary and Joseph heading to Bethlehem for a census and the birth of Jesus,” a move that stirred up controversy among religious conservatives and the broader Latino community. [2]
Unfortunately, the poster controversy served to widen the rift between Latinos who are promoting participation in the census and those who are urging a boycott to protest the crackdown by federal authorities on illegal immigration, as well as the lack of movement on immigration reform.
More information on the Hispanic Community in U.S
[1] ABC News, High-Stakes Census for Latinos Complicated by Fears
[2] The Washington Post, Hispanic leaders disagree over Christmas-themed census poster
