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The importance of immigration reform cannot be ignored
As the 2010 national Census approaches, preparations throughout the country are being made in order to collect the very important data regarding the number of people living in the United States. The importance of participating in the national census is addressed in the U.S. constitution and makes it a requirement by law that every person residing in the United States, no matter their legal status, be counted at the time of the census. The data was first collected in 1790 and has continued every ten years since then. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, any and all personal responses collected from the census are confidential. The main purposes of the census is “to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.”
With all that said, the Latino community, particularly the undocumented immigrant community, finds itself in a significant dilemma in regards to the 2010 census. In recent developments, undocumented Latino immigrants have been and continue to be asked by a number of Latinos and Latino organizations, such as CONLAMIC, to boycott the census as a means to gain leverage in the battle for immigration reform. The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) is being extremely vocal in their attempt to organize a massive boycott of the census. Meanwhile, there are a strong number of Latinos and Latino organizations opposing the request to withhold from census participation due to fear of impeding any positive progress that has been made in the past by strong Latino representation in the census. The undocumented Latino immigrant community is the largest in Los Angeles let alone California. A boycott of the census by this community would have a massive impact on all of California politics.
For those who are encouraging a boycott of the census, a boycott is viewed as a justified action by undocumented Latino immigrants. For years immigrants have been calling for immigration reform and for years the reform has been delayed. Now, as a way to gain reform, advocates of the boycott want to use the participation of undocumented Latino immigrants as a bargaining chip. A strong reason for those encouraging a census boycott is to protect undocumented Latino immigrants from being exploited. They see undocumented Latino immigrants as being inappropriately used by the state, city, and district, through the collection of data, to receive federal funds for which many of the same undocumented immigrants are ineligible to receive.
However, on the other end of the argument there are many Latinos who fully support the census process and encourage all undocumented Latino immigrants to be counted. Those in support of census participation acknowledge the great impact of being counted. A lack of participation in the census by undocumented Latino immigrants, especially in the state of California, which is home to an overwhelming amount, could lead to many negative affects for the entire state. Losses of Congressional seats which subsequently would result in the loss of funding for many Californians and their communities is the greatest impact. Power through numbers is what advocates of the census want to remind the Latino community. A strong representation in the census by the Latino community can lead to gaining leverage over the issue of immigration reform in the near future.
The census has created a considerably large and unfortunate divide within the Latino community. Among undocumented Latino immigrants who oppose participating in the census, a strong reason for their opposition is their fear that, if counted, statistics acquired from this census will be used against them in the future to advocate stronger immigration policies due to the high number of undocumented immigrants revealed to be living in the U.S. The fear is so prevalent, many immigrants are hesitant to even discuss census participation.
Among those undocumented Latino immigrants who oppose non-participation and plan to be counted, a strong reason for their participation is a need to represent strong and positive numbers for their community. The belief is, strong numbers and representation in the census will lead to more Congressional seats acquired, and eventually that will lead to attaining immigration reform.
Census questionnaires are scheduled to be mailed and delivered to households during February and March of 2010.
Participate in the poll: What would you do if you found (find) yourself in the position of an undocumented Latino immigrant? http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1893615/
Comments
It seems as though a lack of funding is the last thing Californians, even undocumented Californians, need. Funds are already being cut from many programs that directly affect our youth and Latino communities. It's hard to be on either side of this conversation as there are many pros and cons. It's a very good conversation starter and an important one as well. Good article Mr. Chusan.
Cut off your nose to spite your face?
good, we are now realizing that for the health care to move forward we must tax money leaving this country for destination South, with health care reform there will also be closing of emergency rooms to only situations that are life threatening. i fear the Latinos not being counted we all know how devastating was a "Day Without A Mexican"......
The bigger deal is having mixed-race Latins state in fact they are mixed-race (ie 'mestizo). Many wont do it claiming the term 'Hispanic' means mixed race. The Census counts them as White, then.
Wow...I had no idea that this debate even existed! I personally feel that they should not boycott, but then again I'm not too familiarized with the argument. However, I feel that the bigger the number of undocumented immigrants are, the more the government can't turn their eyes away from the situation. Great topic. Great work Leo!
Although, many of us can stand on the side of we cannot afford to lose funds in this state any longer, how much more time will this state allow to pass before measures are taken toward its immigrants? It's less than a catch-22. In the long run, post poning an amnesty only continues to deprive the state of more tax payers. This issue has been viewed from a foggy window for too long cause if our government officials can't seem to figure how much we can all gain from legalizing immigrants in the long run, then it becomes more obvious why our state is in as much debt as it is...
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