Leggett, Latino officials call for Hispanics to fill out census
Advocacy groups will take lead promoting census, which will help Montgomery receive funding
Much of the funding depends on Montgomery County's significant Latino population filling out the census form for the April 1 count.
Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring said many of her Hispanic constituents are afraid the information given to the census could be handed over to immigration officials or used against them.
She said that distrust is unwarranted. Any information given to census officials is "safe and secure," only used for population data, Navarro said.
"If we fail to count all of our residents, we will lose millions of dollars of funds for important government programs," Leggett said at the press conference, held at the Mid-County Regional Services Center in Wheaton. The much-needed cash will support public programs such as free health clinics, public schools and roads, Leggett said.
Latinos and other immigrants are notoriously difficult to count, mainly because of their varying levels of immigration status, young age and overall distrust of the government, said Karla Silvestre, the Latino Liaison for the County Executive. Many young people — even non-immigrants — tend not to take the census seriously, Silvestre said. And those who aren't U.S. citizens are hesitant to be counted in a country they don't legally live in.
The push to count those previously uncounted comes as the county faces a massive budget crisis, with up to $600 million in deficits. The census can help bridge some of that gap, with the population data retrieved every decade determining boundaries for state and local legislative districts as well as representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
According to the county's official 2008 count, Latinos officially make up 14.8 percent of Montgomery County's population. But that number is likely much larger, Leggett and Latino officials said Wednesday. Some estimate that 40,000-plus Hispanic immigrants in Montgomery County fly under the government's census radar.
Reina Escovar, an El Salvadorian immigrant who now lives in Wheaton, said it's natural many immigrants are suspicious of the federal government.
"We didn't trust our home country governments," she said, adding she decided to fill out the census when she heard the county could lose millions of public funds if she and others skip it.
To combat that innate fear many immigrants have of the census, which some nonprofit faith organizers said can be spread around quickly and efficiently by misinformed local pastors, the county government is taking a "trusted ambassador" approach, Silvestre said.
Over the next six weeks, Latino advocates from organizations such as the Langley Park-based immigrant advocacy group CASA de Maryland and the Wheaton-based small business nonprofit Latino Economic Development Corporation will be spreading the message that information given to census workers is secure and cannot lead to prosecution of immigration status.
These groups already work with Latino populations in hard-to-count areas such as Silver Spring, Wheaton and Takoma Park. Their reputations among the Latino community lend their voices a credibility few government officials could reach, Silvestre said.
But they also have their work cut out from them, said Manuel Hidalgo, the executive director of LEDC. In addition to widespread rumors about the census within the Latino community, Hidalgo said Latino advocacy groups have to battle another force: Anti-illegal immigration organizations launching heavy campaigns against allowing illegal immigrants to live in places such as Montgomery County.
"We're up against people that really don't want Latinos to be counted, and that's a huge mistake," Hidalgo said. "If you love your schools, if you love your streets, you'll allow them to be counted."
Learn more
On March 27, watch for fiestas celebrating the census and the Latino community in your area. County officials and local nonprofits will be holding a morning fiesta in Gaithersburg, a mid-day fiesta in Wheaton and an afternoon fiesta in Takoma Park, with County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and local Latino personalities such as radio DJs from Sol 90.1. Times and locations will be announced soon in each community.