bobbyw24
11-16-2009, 05:39 AM
WASHINGTON — California Democratic Rep. Joe Baca wants to count all Latinos in the 2010 census, including millions of noncitizens. Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter wants only legal citizens included in the official count.
The Rev. Miguel Rivera, who heads the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, wants illegal Latino immigrants to boycott the census as a way to show their displeasure with Congress' refusal to overhaul national immigration laws.
His motto: "No legalization, no enumeration."
Some states with large Latino populations have a lot to lose. Other states could come out ahead if Latinos aren't counted or decide to boycott.
California could lose five of its 53 seats in the House of Representatives if noncitizens weren't counted, according to a study by Andrew Beveridge, a professor of sociology at Queens College in New York. New York could lose two of its 29 House seats, and Illinois could lose one of its 19. Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas each could gain a seat if noncitizens weren't counted.
The number of Latinos living in the United States is approaching 50 million.
Rivera said a boycott was a good idea because the census would be important to the Democrats who control Washington as they looked ahead to using census numbers for reapportionment. With minorities more likely to vote Democratic, he said, the party's leaders will want to make sure they have strong minority participation to strengthen their hand when new lines for congressional districts are drawn.
"We understand the political benefits of having a strong count," Rivera said.
Citizenship has never been a requirement for the census, dating to the first census in 1790, when each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person, said Clara Rodriguez, a sociology professor and census expert at Fordham University in New York.
"Slaves were not citizens," she said. "They did not become citizens until after the Civil War."
In the days of the Homestead Act, she said, there was no concern about the status of people who settled in Oklahoma and elsewhere because the nation was being flooded with immigrants.
"I don't think that anybody was asking whether they were citizens," she said.
The Constitution requires that the "whole number of persons" be counted. Some politicians differ, however, on how that should be interpreted.
The issue has been receiving plenty of attention on Capitol Hill.
Continue . . .
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/78880.html
The Rev. Miguel Rivera, who heads the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, wants illegal Latino immigrants to boycott the census as a way to show their displeasure with Congress' refusal to overhaul national immigration laws.
His motto: "No legalization, no enumeration."
Some states with large Latino populations have a lot to lose. Other states could come out ahead if Latinos aren't counted or decide to boycott.
California could lose five of its 53 seats in the House of Representatives if noncitizens weren't counted, according to a study by Andrew Beveridge, a professor of sociology at Queens College in New York. New York could lose two of its 29 House seats, and Illinois could lose one of its 19. Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas each could gain a seat if noncitizens weren't counted.
The number of Latinos living in the United States is approaching 50 million.
Rivera said a boycott was a good idea because the census would be important to the Democrats who control Washington as they looked ahead to using census numbers for reapportionment. With minorities more likely to vote Democratic, he said, the party's leaders will want to make sure they have strong minority participation to strengthen their hand when new lines for congressional districts are drawn.
"We understand the political benefits of having a strong count," Rivera said.
Citizenship has never been a requirement for the census, dating to the first census in 1790, when each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person, said Clara Rodriguez, a sociology professor and census expert at Fordham University in New York.
"Slaves were not citizens," she said. "They did not become citizens until after the Civil War."
In the days of the Homestead Act, she said, there was no concern about the status of people who settled in Oklahoma and elsewhere because the nation was being flooded with immigrants.
"I don't think that anybody was asking whether they were citizens," she said.
The Constitution requires that the "whole number of persons" be counted. Some politicians differ, however, on how that should be interpreted.
The issue has been receiving plenty of attention on Capitol Hill.
Continue . . .
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/78880.html