Newsletter Feature Story April 2010

Feature Story - April 2010

2010 Census Heightens Immigration Reform Debate

The U.S. Census Bureau last month mailed out 2010 census forms to more than 120 million households, representing about 90 percent of all residential addresses in the country. The remainder were hand-delivered in areas where many households lack traditional city-style postal addresses, and along hurricane-affected areas of the Gulf Coast, while a fraction of the forms were filled out during census interviews by census takers.

The once-a-decade population count mandated by the U.S. Constitution has been conducted since 1790.

Census data are used to apportion congressional seats to states, to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to tribal, state and local governments each year, and to make decisions about what community services to provide.
The 2010 Census form is one of the shortest in U.S. history, consisting of ten questions. Strict confidentiality laws protect the respondents and the information they provide.

This year, the Census Bureau left it up to responders to characterize their own relationships. It allowed same-sex couples to categorize themselves as husband or wife, even if their relationships are not recognized by state or federal law. The form did not explicitly recognize same-sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships. Instead, the form offered one of two boxes for gay couples–"husband or wife" or "unmarried partners."

In the weeks and months leading up to the census, a number of nonprofit organizations got involved.

The Michigan Nonprofit Association summed it up this way. "Nonprofits driven by social missions want to see their communities have access to the funds, services, representation and physical and social infrastructure impacted by the census count. Nonprofits are densely located in hard-to-count communities, and they have relationships with the very people who are typically under-represented in census data. Given these factors, nonprofits across the country are getting involved with the Census in order to help make the process as understandable and accessible as possible, and to ensure the most accurate population count."

For the first time, the Census Bureau mailed out 13 million bilingual, English-Spanish forms across the country.

Traditionally, the nation's Hispanic population is under-counted during the census, in which a segment of that community is undocumented and fears that participation in the census could lead to their deportation. That concern has divided the U.S. Hispanic community in terms of whether to support the census or not.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian leaders, or CONLAMIC, urged Hispanics to boycott the 2010 Census. The conservative Latino Christian advocacy organization represents 16,000 churches in 73 cities across 32 states.

Led by the Rev. Miguel Rivera of Puerto Rico, their slogan for boycotting the census was "legalization before enumeration." The group claimed that by not taking part in the census, the Latino-American community can turn their growing political power into leverage toward new comprehensive immigration reform legislation by giving undocumented immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

Leading the opposition to CONLAMIC's campaign was the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, or NALEO, a group which represents more than 6,000 elected and appointed officials dedicated to full participation in the political process and to the progress of the nation's estimated 45.5 million Latinos.

NALEO Executive Director, Arturo Vargas, called the CONLAMIC boycott, "wildly irresponsible," and countered that participation in the census is a path to political and economic empowerment for the Latino community.

NALEO noted that census data are used to support social service programs like Medicaid, SCHIP, child care, early childhood education and school lunches–programs that are vital for the well-being of immigrant communities.

CONLAMIC, in turn, accused NALEO of spreading "lies" and "terrorizing" illegal immigrants by suggesting that public services, including funding for public schools, will suffer if immigrants are not counted.

CONLAMIC's Rivera said, "It's a lie that schools will lose money. They're financed by taxes paid by residents in the community," including undocumented immigrant homeowners.

NALEO stirred controversy with a poster campaign that linked the 2010 Census to the birth of Jesus. Thousands of posters were distributed to church and clergy that depict the arrival of Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem prior to the birth of Christ.

As chronicled in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph returned to be counted in a Roman census, but he and Mary found no room at the inn. Hence, Jesus was born in a manger.

The poster states, "This is how Jesus was born. Joseph and Mary participated in the Census."

During his 2008 campaign for the White House, President Obama pledged to deliver comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

On March 11th , the President held three separate meetings on the politically sensitive issue–one with immigrant rights activists, one with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and one with two members of the U.S. Senate who are crafting an immigration reform measure, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham.

Afterward, the President issued a statement, that read in part, "I look forward to reviewing their promising framework, and every American should applaud their efforts to reach across party lines and find commonsense answers to one of our most vexing problems. I also heard from a diverse group of grassroots leaders from around the country about the growing coalition that is working to build momentum for this critical issue.

I am optimistic that their efforts will contribute to a favorable climate for moving forward. I told both the Senators and the community leaders that my commitment to comprehensive immigration reform is unwavering, and that I will continue to be their partner in this important effort," the President stated.

Two controversial aspects of the reform framework being worked on by Schumer and Graham include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and the creation of a biometric national ID card for workers.

On March 21st, thousands gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for what organizers called a "powerful witness for just, humane, immigration reform." It was preceded by an interfaith prayer service.

Many in the faith community favor such an approach for reforming the nation's immigration system.

Earlier this year, a diverse coalition of religious leaders joined forces to launch a nationwide mobilization for immigration reform. "Together, Not Torn: Families Can't Wait for Immigration Reform," included the delivery last month of hundreds of thousands of pro-reform postcards to members of Congress from people of faith in their states and districts.

Also, thousands of people of faith conducted a total of 100 local events across the country during February and into March, to "deliver the moral message on immigration reform to state and federal legislators, reminding them of the urgent need to pass immigration reform that protects our values as a nation."

Jen Smyers, who works on immigration policies for ecumenical humanitarian relief agency, Church World Service, said, "People of faith are calling for immigration reform because every day they witness the human consequences of the broken immigration system–families separated, workers exploited and communities in fear. We pray that Congress will have the moral courage to enact human immigration reform immediately, because our families and communities can no longer wait."

Sojourners founder and CEO, the Rev. Jim Wallis, said, "It's time to stop playing politics with something that should have been dealt with long ago."

Wallis continued, "Changes to our immigration system will simply not happen without both courage and faith. For many of us, faith is a catalyst to action that can solve the really big issues–and this is one of the biggest ones we face now. People of faith will look beyond the political calculations and see this for the moral and family crisis it is. It will take people of faith to knock down the doors of Congress and bring the stories of immigrant friends, neighbors and family members as evidence of the injustices that are experienced on a daily basis.

Finally, we need faith in a God Who is larger than we can imagine, the God Who cries as we humans build border walls to separate ourselves from our brothers and sisters on the other side, the God of justice Who isn't persuaded by the political timetables of Washington, D.C.," Wallis said.

In weighing in on the contentious issue, the National Association of Evangelicals wrote, "Discussion of immigration and government immigration policy must begin with the truth that every human being is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). Immigrants are made in the image of God and have supreme value, with the potential to contribute greatly to society. Jesus exemplifies respect toward others who are different in his treatment of the Samaritans (Luke 10:30-37; John 4:1-42).

The Bible does not offer a blueprint for modern legislation, but it can serve as a moral compass and shape the attitudes of those who believe in God. Policies must be evaluated to reflect that immigrants are made in the image of God, and demonstrate biblical grace to the foreigner," the NAE stated.

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