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The 2010 Census: A Push
for a Full Latino Count
A network of Latino leaders has been assembled to ensure an accurate count
of all Latinos in the 2010 United States Census. Over 30 national and
regional Latino organizations and hundreds of individuals in the U.S.
and Puerto Rico have joined forces to create the Latino Census Network.
The Network, which is a project of the National Institute for Latino Policy
(NiLP,) aims to educate the Latino community on the importance of the
Census and provide a united Latino voice on related issues and policies.
Results from the 2000 Census showed that Latinos became the largest minority
in the U.S., however some say Puerto Ricans and other Latinos may have
been underrepresented in the count. Next year the government will conduct
its national census in an effort to count every person living in the U.S.
The data collected from this count, which occurs every 10 years, is used
to assign Congressional seats, electoral votes, and funding for federal
and state programs.
Most Puerto Ricans do not live in Puerto Rico. In 2007, the Census Bureau's
American Community Survey set the number of Puerto Ricans living in the
50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia at 4.1 million, slightly greater
than the entire population of Puerto Rico (3.9 million.) About 57 percent
of all Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. live in the Northeast section
and 27 percent live in the Florida region.
Angelo Falcón, the president of NiLP, recently conducted a seminar
about the 2010 Census at El Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños
at Hunter College of CUNY. Falcón and the NiLP were appointed by
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez to serve on the Census Advisory Committee
on the Hispanic Population.
Falcon, who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, told the seminar audience
that the Latino Census Network is developing ways to assist the 2010 Census
in assuring the best estimate of the Latino population. The Network is
promoting ways to increase government and non-government resources available
to grassroots Latino community organizations to increase their ability
to mobilize our communities to overcome any possible undercount.
According to political scientists, like Falcon, there is a serious under
representation of Latinos on the Census Bureau work force. There are also
needs for the improvement of Hispanic, race, language, and other Census
questions to ensure a more accurate count of Latinos in the U.S.
Puerto Ricans have migrated to the U.S. mainland since the 1800s. Boricuas
have relocated to many major cities including New York City, Boston, Chicago,
Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Miami.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between 1990 and 2000 the Stateside
Puerto Rican population grew by 12.5 percent, from 3.2 to 3.4 million.
This Stateside Puerto Rican growth rate is higher than the 8.4 percent
population growth occurring in Puerto Rico during this same period. Mexican
Americans are the largest Latino group in the U.S., making up 64.3 percent
of the total Hispanic population, or 29.2 million people.
Census data from 2000 showed that Puerto Rican Americans, both on the
island and mainland, represented 9.6 percent of all Hispanics in the US.
The states with the largest Puerto Rican populations in 2000 were New
York, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The state
with the largest Puerto Rican percentage of its total population was Connecticut
with 5.7 percent. In 2000, Puerto Ricans in Connecticut made up 60 percent
of the total Latino population.
Despite growths in the overall Puerto Rican population, some Puerto Ricans
following Census data wonder about the new increase in Puerto Ricans in
Florida, and the decline of Boricuas in New York City. Falcon mentioned
a Puerto Rican poverty level of 25 percent, which may be a cause of the
decrease of Puerto Ricans in New York where rents and property taxes are
skyrocketing. However, the actual reason for the Puerto Rican population
decline in New York City is unknown and greatly speculated. Other cities
with decreases in the Puerto Rican population include Chicago, Illinois,
and Jersey City, Newark, and Paterson, New Jersey.
So where are all the Puerto Ricans going? The cities with the fasting-growing
number of Boricuas are Buenaventura Lakes (213 percent increase,) Poinciana
(205 percent,) and Orlando (142 percent,) Florida. Puerto Ricans with
higher earning income have been noted to move to states like California
and Texas, however current and future population growth may add Florida
to the list of favorite locations for well-to-do Boricuas.
The Latino Census Network would like to reinforce to Latinos that Census
data provided to the government is kept confidential. This is important
because the Census Bureau hopes to again count undocumented Latino residents.
An accurate count would provide federal funding to needed education, health,
and other community-related programs. An undercount of Latinos in certain
local areas can undercut funding for police, fire, and sanitation services.
For the first time in 2010, there will be a bilingual Census form with
just ten questions, which should take only ten minutes to complete. According
to Falcon, the U.S. Census plans a massive three-month, $450 million advertising
campaign targeting Latinos. An estimated $28 million will be spent on
Spanish language media ads. The government also plans to use Twitter and
new media to outreach to all Latinos.
The Latino Census Network wants to work closely with the Census Bureau
to ensure a real Latino count. The group believes a real result in the
2010 Census will have important cultural, social, political, and economic
implications for the development of Puerto Ricans and the Latino community
in general.
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