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Latinos Key to Arizona Population Growth

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In-depth analysis nonetheless shows increase could have been greater

Latinos were pivotal to the population growth in Arizona in the last decade, comprising nearly half (48%) of the overall increase in residents since 2000, according to a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund analysis of newly released Census 2010 data.

A climate of hostility toward Latinos could have played a part in our community not participating in the Census and therefore not being counted

A climate of hostility toward Latinos could have played a part in our community not participating in the Census and therefore not being counted

Between 2000 and 2010, while the state’s overall population grew 25% from 5.1 million to 6.4 million, the Latino population grew from 1.3 million to 1.9 million, an increase of 46%.  Arizona is the second-fastest growing state in the nation, and gained one additional congressional seat as a result.  Latinos now represent 30% of the state’s residents and are the second-largest population group.

“There is no doubt that Latinos are a key part of our state’s growth.  These numbers show we will continue to play a larger and larger role in the state,” said NALEO Board Member Mayor Fernando Shipley of Globe, Arizona.  “As the state now undertakes the redistricting process, we have to be sure that these numbers become an opportunity for full and fair representation for the Latino community.”

The Census 2010 data also reveal that 43% of all Arizonans under 18 are Latino, and that the Arizona Latino population is significantly younger than the non-Latino population.

In addition, figures show significant Latino populations in most of Arizona’s largest cities, including Phoenix (41%), Tucson(42%) and Glendale (35%).  Nearly all of Arizona’s Latinos (96%) live in the state’s ten largest counties, with 60% residing inMaricopa County alone.

However, the 2010 Census data fall below estimates of the population.  For instance, in the state’s most populous county, Maricopa — home of the capital city of Phoenix — the U.S. Census Bureau had estimated there would be 235,704 more residents than what the actual Census count shows.   The estimates also show that the state averaged a -4% difference in population.

From our extensive work in overcoming barriers to full Census participation, the NALEO Educational Fund knows that fear and distrust of government are among the leading causes of not participating in the Census, and we are concerned the hostile environment in the state during last year’s enumeration may have contributed to a Census count significantly below the projections.  No other state has had such a difference between the 2010 population estimates and the 2010 Census count.

“It is unfortunate that a climate of hostility toward Latinos could have played a part in our community not participating in the Census and therefore not being counted,” said former NALEO Educational Fund Board Member and Patagonia (AZ) School Board Member Cynthia Matus Morris.  “When we have people who are made to fear being counted, all residents of Arizonalose.”

(Click here to view the NALEO Educational Fund 2010 Arizona Census Profile)

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski

About NALEO Educational Fund

The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation’s leading non-partisan, non-profit organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

ya es hora Campaign Calls for Complete Count of Latinos | 2010 Census

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Campaign Calls for the Confirmation of Dr. Robert Groves to lead Census Bureau

ya es hora Campaign Calls for Complete Count of Latinos and Immigrants in the 2010 Census

LOS ANGELES, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — At a press conference today, the partners of the historic ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! (It’s Time, Make Yourself Count!) Campaign urged the Latino community to participate in the 2010 Census. In addition to announcing new partners, the campaign called for the confirmation of Robert Groves to head the U.S. Census Bureau, and condemned the efforts of a small group of organizations calling for a boycott of the enumeration as a strategy to achieve comprehensive immigration reform.

“The partners in the ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign are committed to ensuring a full count in the 2010 Census,” said Texas State Representative Rafael Anchia, Chairman of the NALEO Educational Fund. “This is only possible if we have the continued support of partner organizations across the country as well as leadership at the Census Bureau and the full support of everyone in the Latino community.”

“A full count of the Latino population will help Latinos build a better future for their families,” said Dr. Jesse Miranda, CEO of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC). “A full count is critical for the continued economic and political progress of the Latino community. An undercount of the Latino community will do serious damage to our families and our neighborhoods. By diminishing the representation of newcomers in our democracy, an undercount will also undermine efforts to achieve comprehensive immigration reform. Encouraging anyone not to participate in the Census is simply wrong.”

The U.S. Constitution requires a full count of all residents of the United States, including immigrants. Census statistics determine reapportionment and political representation, and are also used for allocating federal funding for many social and economic programs that benefit the Latino community and the entire country. Additionally, Census data are used for the enforcement of civil rights and anti-discrimination laws, including the Voting Rights Act.

The ya es hora, !HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign will focus on promoting the importance of the Census, educating individuals about filling out their Census forms and encouraging households to mail back their responses once they complete their forms. This phase of the coalition’s work builds on the success of the ya es hora !Ciudadania!Campaign of 2007, in which 1.4 million Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) applied for U.S. citizenship, and the success of the ya es hora !Ve y Vota! Campaign of 2008, in which a record 9.7 million Latinos exercised their right to vote in the presidential election.

The ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign is a coalition of national and local Latino organizations and Spanish-language media working to inform and motivate the nearly 50 million U.S. Latinos to fully participate in the 2010 Census. The campaign is lead by national partners, including the Dominican American National Roundtable, League of United Latin American Citizens, Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, NALEO Educational Fund, National Council of La Raza, Service Employees International Union, and media companies Entravision, impreMedia, and Univision, and includes organizational partners at the national, state, and local levels.

In recent weeks, a growing list of organizations have joined the campaign, including: Comunidad Presbiteriana Hispana & El Pozo de Jacob / The Jacob’s Well; Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); The Hispanic Federation; Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA); Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI); Hispanic Mega Church Association; National Hispanic Pentecostal Congress; Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership; Independent Sector; Latino Justice/Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Educational Fund; League of Women Voters USA; Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR); Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF); National Association of Evangelicals; National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP); National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA); National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC); National Latina Institute on Reproductive Health; National Puerto Rican Coalition, Inc. (NPRC); Colorado Immigrant Rights (CIRC); Consejo Nacional De Organizaciones Comunitarias(CBO); Connecticut Puerto Rican Forum Inc.; Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services Inc.; Los Angeles City College-Workforce Development; Los Angeles Southwest College-Bridges to Success; Pasadena City College-Community Education Center; S.O.S. Immigration International; The Idaho Community Action Network; International Institute; Unity For Dignity; Mexican American Opportunity Foundation; UFW Foundation; The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights; Latina Initiative; Intercambio de Comunidades; The Latin American Coalition; Tenants and Workers United; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Oxnard; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional East Los Angeles; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Fontana; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Palmdale; Hermandad Mexicana Nacional Pacoima; LA Voice/PICO; Alliance for a Better Community; Mayor of Miami, Manny Diaz; Hispanic Unity, Miami; Organizacion Hondurena Integrada; Minnesota Council of Nonprofits; Contra Costa Faith Works!; Hispanic Women’s Organization ofArkansas; Mexican American Commission of Nebraska; Colombo Americans for Action.

About the ya es hora Campaign

The ya es hora campaign is the largest and most comprehensive non-partisan effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process. The campaign had a dramatic impact on naturalization rates and spurred record Latino turnout in the 2008 presidential election.
Source: The Ya es Hora Campaign

Hispanic Christian leaders organizing boycott of census

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Some Hispanic Christian leaders say they’ve waited too long for immigration reform so they are taking a controversial step — they want illegal immigrants to boycott Census 2010.

Census 2010 and Hispanics - Hispanic Christian leaders organizing boycott of census

Census 2010 and Hispanics – Hispanic Christian leaders organizing boycott of census

The leaders are asking illegal immigrants not to fill out census questionnaires when they are sent to homes nationwide, said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, a Washington, D.C.-based group organizing the boycott. Boycott proponents are pushing the effort in several states including Texas and California.
“To us it is a moral issue,” said the Rev. Dr. David Guel of Houston, who sits on the executive committee of the group, which represents 20,000 Hispanic churches nationwide.

Rivera said the boycott will bring attention to the need to legalize the estimated 12 million people living and working in the United States without status. He said their cause is a human-rights issue that affects many undocumented church members and pastors.

“Once there is a legal path for citizenship, then undocumented immigrants will become citizens and have a right to vote,” Rivera said in a telephone interview.

But U.S. census officials said the boycott could hurt Hispanics.

Census data is used to determine federal funding for an area and seats for the U.S. House and can boost jobs.

The League of United Latin American Citizens has been countering the boycott by stressing the need for Hispanics to be counted through an information campaign called Ya Es Hora Hagase Contar! or It Is Time to Make Yourself Count.

Gabriel Sanchez, the Dallas regional director for the Census Bureau, said Hispanics are a growing demographic.

“This is the way to get recognized in the United States,” Sanchez said. “Any call for anybody to not participate is doing them, their cause and their country a disservice.”

Some companies use the data to determine where to open a plant, and some governments use it to place job-training programs, Sanchez said.

“If there is something that everyone should participate in, it is the census,” Sanchez said. “Our goal is to count everybody.”

Education called key

Sanchez said the best way to fight the boycott is education.

By the time people begin receiving census questionnaires next spring, Sanchez said, he wants the Hispanic community to be comfortable with the 10 questions asked, including how many people live in a household on April 1 and whether they live in a house, apartment or mobile home.

Sanchez stressed that no questions ask about immigration status, Social Security numbers or credit cards.

“It doesn’t ask for anything that can hurt you,” Sanchez said. “It only asks for things that can help you.”

Boycott advocates said fears exist in the Hispanic immigrant community that data will be compiled and sent to immigration authorities or Homeland Security officials.

“All census data is confidential by law,” Sanchez said, explaining that the names are taken off, data compiled and published in statistical form so no one can be identified. “No one can see the data, not even the president.”

Praying for reform

Boycott advocates lament what they call the broken promise of immigration reform. These proponents said they believe that President George W. Bush would have made good on the immigration reform promise if he hadn’t been diverted by 9-11.

“We are praying it will pass this year,” said Eli Rodriguez, coordinator of the Hispanic Baptist Convocation of the Laity in Dallas. “Amen! Every church in Texas and the United States is praying that will happen.”

A recent White House meeting on immigration was a beginning, but boycott advocates said they must push forward with the effort to gain momentum.

They said that only with bipartisan support will reform happen. They said they want President Barack Obama to make good on his promise and for Republicans leaders to ignore polls that favor anti-immigrant measures.

So far the boycott effort is garnering the group media attention. If the boycott puts at stake federal dollars or congressional representation, then it is a small cost compared with the rights of the undocumented, Rodriguez and Rivera said.

“We know the problems, the conflicts, the anxiety that our undocumented people are experiencing,” Rivera said. “We know what we are talking about. That’s why we need to bring radical action.”

Census 2010

The Census is required by the Constitution. Every 10 years, the federal government counts the people in the United States. Data from questionnaires is used to apportion seats in the U.S. House. The data is also used to distribute more than $300 billion federal funds each year.

Questionnaires will be sent out in the spring.

Bilingual questionnaires will be sent to about 13 million households.

Advertising about the census will be presented in 28 languages nationwide. The Census Bureau will have assistance available in 51 languages.

About Census 2010: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

About the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders: www.conlamic.org

About the League of United Latin American Citizens: www.lulac.org

Source: Star-Telegram – By Diane Smith

sarcasm quote

too funny

Census workers strive to improve dialogue with Hispanics

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CHARLOTTE — Preparations are under way for the 2010 Census, but a lingering fear in the Hispanic community could mean that not everyone gets counted.

“One of the biggest challenges for us is the fear that people may have of filling out the census form,” explained Angeles Ortega-Moore, a partnership specialist with the Census Bureau.

Ortega-Moore says Latinos are reluctant to participate because they are not sure where their information is sent once they fill out the forms and what it will then be used for. She’s been working with churches, schools and community organizations to try to ease the concern.

Tony Jones, of the U.S. Census Bureau, says information collected will never be used for anything but census purposes, and that refusing to fill out the form could be detrimental to the community as a whole.

“The information is used to provide for new roads, infrastructure, schools, hospitals, libraries,” listed Tony Jones with the U.S. Census Bureau. “So this would be information that is vital for them and their participation is very, very important.”

Charlotte’s Hispanic population has nearly doubled since the last census, according to Ortega- Moore, and she hopes the count in 2010 will reflect that.

As part of its 10-10 in 2010 campaign, the Census Bureau says the process consists of 10 questions and only takes 10 minutes to complete.

Source: Johnell Johnson – http://www.news14.com/content/local_news/charlotte/610702/census-workers-strive-to-improve-dialogue-with-hispanics/Default.aspx Census workers strive to improve dialogue with Hispanics