Hispanic leaders hope to boost Latino response to census

The census count begins in April, and Spanish-speaking communities have been identified as hard to reach because there's a lot of fear of government.

To get the message out about the importance of being counted, about 30 Hispanic leaders from across the state gathered yesterday at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond to create the first Hispanic Complete Count Committee in Virginia and other Southern states to partner with the U.S. Census Bureau.

"I think that we, as Latino leaders, can step up and help with this effort," said Michel Zajur, the committee's co-chairman.

Zajur is founder and CEO of the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which is governing the committee.

Census Bureau officials have some serious challenges in counting people in Hispanic communities, said Juan J. Callejas, a partnership specialist with the bureau.

He has been working in the rural areas of Virginia and has found that many Hispanics live in the shadows, he said.

"I asked a Latino person in the Northern Neck, 'Of the Latinos that you know, how many do you estimate are invisible?' She said, 'I estimate from five to seven,'" he said.

In the urban areas, Callejas said, the challenge is that many Latinos fear being caught by immigration authorities. Some are violating housing-occupancy ordinances and are afraid government employees will report the violations to authorities, he said.

Another challenge is posed by the Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the Washington-based National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which claims to have a network of 20,000 churches with 3 million to 4 million members across the country.

He is encouraging his listeners through his paid Spanish-language radio programs, including one that airs on Radio Poder 1380 in the Richmond area, not to fill out the census forms unless the government approves immigration reforms.

He also has warned them that the government can use that information against them later.

"I think that's dangerous that they do that," Zajur said. "Who's going to pay the consequences? Are they going to come in and support the community? For every person that doesn't register, that's $2,600 that the local government loses."

Every year, about $400 billion in federal money is awarded to the states and communities for new hospitals, roads, schools and other facilities based on the data collected, according to census officials.

"Every 10 years, the census numbers have to be adjusted because there's a gross undercount of Latinos, and I don't think this coming year is going to be an exception," said Andres Tobar, chairman of the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations. "There's a tremendous amount of fear out there; the immigrant community is under attack, especially in Virginia."

Committee members will be responsible for organizing activities in their respective communities to carry the Census Bureau message of how important it is to be counted, said Bernadine Anthony, a partnership team leader for the Charlotte, N.C., Regional Census Center.

"If you are documented or undocumented, that's not our concern," she said, adding that census employees are sworn to confidentiality.

Anthony said Spanish-speaking people are being recruited to help with the count. Census forms will be sent out in several languages, including Spanish, and an ad campaign launching in January will be in multiple languages.

Leni Gonzalez, a committee co-chairwoman, said the committee needs to spread a message that the census counts people, not immigration status.

"We will have to reinforce the message that this is confidential information."

Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-6513 or .