The census can be a hard sell in some Hispanic communities.
Fears that the information illegal immigrants give to the census could lead to their deportation is partly responsible for Latinos being undercounted in the 2000 census by an estimated 3 percent.
This year, a prominent Latino evangelical preacher with a radio show in 11 markets is encouraging undocumented immigrants to boycott the census to protest the lack of immigration reform. And a Mexican-American political organization has called for all Hispanics to boycott it.
Against that backdrop, a coalition of prominent Latinos launched a nationwide campaign Thursday urging people to fill out the 2010 census forms.
The 47 million Hispanics living in the U.S. comprise the nation's largest minority group. As part of an unprecedented outreach to Hispanics, the Census Bureau for the first time will send bilingual forms to largely Hispanic areas. A host of Latino organizations are telling people that the census will help get more federal funds for their communities, potentially more Latinos in elective office and also more say in immigration laws.
"This is the most important census ever for the Latino community," said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund ( www.naleo.org), in announcing the campaign "Ya es hora? Hagase contar?!" or "It's time to make yourself count."
Under the Constitution, the census must count everyone living in the country - legally or illegally - once every 10 years. The census asks people to answer questions about their country of birth and citizenship status, but it does not ask whether they are in the country legally or not.
By law, census workers do not share information about any individual with other government agencies. In previous years, immigration raids have been suspended during the census count.
To counter negative perceptions, the Census Bureau is forming partnerships with people and groups trusted in their community. Hundreds of bilingual Spanish-speakers have been hired to form more partnerships.
The Spanish-language network, Univision, will broadcast a 30-minute program in late March in which viewers are guided step-by-step through the process of filling out their forms. The Telemundo television network will cast a soap opera with a character who is a census worker. Public service announcements will feature pro-census messages from well-known news anchors, sports announcers, judges and gossip columnists.
The television programs involve donated time. The Census Bureau estimates it will spend almost $28 million on Hispanic media for the 2010 Census, up from $19 million for the 2000 Census.
The alliance has created a deep schism among Latino groups.
The Rev. Miguel Rivera, chairman of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which claims a membership of 20,000 pastors, called in the spring for a boycott by undocumented immigrants. Now he wants to expand it to all Latinos if immigration reform doesn't progress by Nov. 1.
"This is a time when radical action is needed to move forward, by showing we are truly committed not to be counted unless undocumented immigrants are given a path to citizenship," he said.
Rivera said he was "very disappointed" with the organizations helping the census. "They prefer to be clients of the census and get dollars that are going to be spent by the Census Bureau. Instead of putting up front the needs of undocumented immigrants, they use them as an excuse to get more money from the Washington entitlement machine."
Vargas said that only the media companies are getting money from the Census Bureau.
The Mexican American Political Association, which says it has 100,000 members and which has gotten Census Bureau awards for its past activism, already has called for an all-Latino boycott. Nativo Lopez, president of the group, said MAPA has distributed 250,000 fliers in California with the message.
