Census advocates hold workshop

Be counted. If you find a 2010 U.S. Census questionnaire in your mailbox in the following weeks, do not throw it away — fill it out.
The results will be used to determine the distribution of $400 billion for schools, hospitals, transportation and programs in cities across the United States. And the more people counted in a city, the more money the city gets.
Officials with the U.S. Census Bureau and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) reinforced the message Tuesday at a census workshop for community leaders in the Rio Grande Valley.
“Each person who participates in the census can help someone else participate,” Anna Alicia Romero, regional census director for MALDEF, said before a crowd of about a dozen at the Brownsville Events Center. “Cameron County and the Valley are booming and it is important and urgent that we seize control of our future at this moment.”
The Mexican American civil rights organization has worked to raise awareness of the U.S. Census since the count began, Romero said. It offered the free workshop as part of its efforts to reach more people in hard-to-count counties, such as Cameron and Hidalgo.
The meeting covered information for leaders and volunteers working to spread the word about the importance of taking the 2010 census.
Latino communities, including counties along the border, tend to “fit the bill,” Romero said, when it comes to the characteristics that make an area hard to count. Such areas tend to be low income with a high population of children, renters and Spanish speakers.
In 2000, for instance, Latinos were undercounted by 1.3 million, according to MALDEF. And the undercount translated into lost dollars for many counties. Hidalgo County lost more than $51,000 in funds related to its population being undercounted by the census, according to the U.S. Census Monitoring Board.
Cameron County was not included in the report by the census monitoring board, which was a temporary, independent oversight committee and is no longer in existence.
But today, counties in the Valley are still facing significant obstacles in getting the message across, among them MALDEF cites a lack of understanding, anti-immigration sentiments and policies, fear and distrust of government and displacement suffered by foreclosures.
Facing these challenges is imperative, said Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr., who made an appearance at the event.
“Without you, there are no resources,” he said.
U.S. Census Bureau officials also are taking steps to reach as many people as possible. This year, the census form has been shortened to 10 questions. For the first time in census history, bilingual questionnaires will be sent out to predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhoods throughout the country. In the past, residents would have to request the census form in a foreign language, which community leaders said contributed to the high Hispanic undercount.
Now Texas — particularly the Valley — is expected to get the bulk of the bilingual questionnaires, census bureau officials said.
For the last few months, Leticia Leiva, a social worker at the Good Neighbor Settlement House, has worked to raise awareness of the census. The main hurdle she faces in getting the message across, she said, is “intimidation.”
“People are afraid of what they do not know and do not understand,” Leiva said. “That is why it is important we reach out to as many people as possible.”