Count or Be Counted

Latino Christian advocacy groups are proposing that Latinos refuse to respond to the 2010 Census to protest the treatment of undocumented immigrants and the slow pace at which the Democratic party is undertaking immigration reform.  A recent forum at Princeton University sponsored by the Center for Migration Studies had proponents on both sides of the debate discuss the question of responding to the Census. 

The proposal of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders is not intended to sabotage the 2010 Census but to force Congress to take steps toward comprehensive immigration reform according to Dr. Miguel Angel Rivera, founder and head of the Coalition.  The proposal by this advocacy coalition is ironic since several bills have been introduced in the House of Representatives and US Senate to prevent the Census Bureau from including in final state totals undocumented or illegal residents. 

The courts have ruled that the constitution requires that all residents be counted in the process of allocating political power.  The reason that the language all residents was included in the Constitution was because in 1789 one became a citizen of the United States by virtue of being a citizen of a state.  And states had different requirement for citizenship. And it wasn’t until the 1960’s that we finally allowed black citizens to vote. (women got the vote in 1918) .

Several Princeton scholars including Dr. Marta Tienda, Dr. Alejandro Portes and Dr. Douglas Massey argued that the boycott would have serious consequences if Latino refuse to participate.  Federal monies and political power are distributed based upon the Census numbers and failure to be counted in large numbers will diminish the potential political power of Latinos.

In the last amnesty in 1983, a person could produce their 1980 Census form ( only an individual can request release of the form before 70 years after the Census is taken) to prove they were in the country before the amnesty deadline.

Since the number of House seates (435) remain fixed, and each state gets at least one, failure of the most rapidly growing minority group to respond to the Census will mean that fewer of the remaining 485 seats will be allocated among the rapidly growing states. Among states that will lose seats such as New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, state legislatures may be forced to merge urban black and Hispanic districts.

While important to draw attention to the demands of the Latino community this proposed boycott may according to Dr. Portes “ shoot ourselves in the foot by reducing numbers”