Anayanse Garza, of the Southwest Workers Union, says the facility to complete the Census over the phone should be extended.

ALAMO, April 18 - It has not been well publicized but residents who call the Census Bureau’s Spanish-language hotline number can fill out the 2010 Census questionnaire over the phone.

However, residents will have to act quickly. “This opportunity is only available until Monday,” Census Bureau spokesman Efren Salinas confirmed, at a Census rally in Little Mexico. “The number to call is 1-866-928-2010.”

Community groups that work in the colonias wish the facility had been better publicized.

“We are requesting an extension on the 866 number for people to be able to call in and fill out the census by phone because it was never publicized in the hard-to-count communities,” said Anayanse Garza, of the Southwest Workers Union.

“The hotline could be one of the major ways our community can be counted. There has been a lot of confusion because the Census forms were never sent to the homes. We are told we will get a visit from a Census worker instead. But, maybe the people are not home when the Census worker comes. We need an extension on that 1-866 number so that we can have a complete count.”

Salinas said that after Monday, residents can still call the number but they will not be able to fill out the form over the phone. Asked what colonia residents should do if they have yet to receive a visit from a Census worker, Salinas said: “They can still call 866-928-2010 and say, hey, we are waiting.”

In border colonias, the Census Bureau is conducting what it calls Update/Enumerate. Instead of receiving a Census questionnaire in the mail, residents will receive a knock on the door from a Census worker and be asked to complete the ten questions on the Census questionnaire verbally.

“Our message to colonia residents is cooperate when a Census worker comes to your home. You could get a visit at any time before the end of May. We ask they be patient,” Salinas said.

Hidalgo County has almost 1,000 colonias, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. Salinas said there are 780 Update/Enumerate workers going door-to-door in Hidalgo County. From Laredo to Brownsville there are about 2,100 Update/Enumerate workers, Salinas said. “That is a massive task force. They work all day and night, they work weekends. They are out there in full force,” Salinas said.

In addition to the Update/Enumerate operation, the Census Bureau will activate its Non Response teams in May for those who did receive a Census form in the mail but did not mail it back before last Friday.

Little Mexico is the unofficial name given to the dozens of colonias that have grown up south of Alamo and Donna in Hidalgo County. On Friday, the Census Bureau, working with non-profits, held a Census rally at the Hidalgo County Multipurpose Center on South Tower Road. Census Bureau staff and community leaders answered questions about the Census operation from local colonia residents.

The non-profit with the biggest profile in Little Mexico is Project ARISE. Its support center is next door to the Multipurpose Center on South Tower. Ramona Casas, director of Project ARISE, said colonia residents are concerned they will not get counted.

“You heard it today. People want to be counted,” Casas said. “They are asking why they were not sent a Census form. They are asking why they have not had a home visit. They are asking what happens when there are three homes on the same lot and only one form has been sent. There is a lot of confusion.”

Observing the Little Mexico event was Anna Alicia Romero, regional census director for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Romero said she was impressed with the level of interest being shown by colonia residents.

“Clearly, people want to be counted. The community groups are doing an excellent job of motivating people to be counted. I know people are listening to the messages. There is a lot of promotional material out there. There are the TV and radio commercials from the Census Bureau promoting the message. All of this in tandem is helping allay fears and motivating people to be counted,” Romero said.

Garza, of the Southwest Workers Union, agreed.

“We want to be treated like everybody else. We don’t want to be discriminated against. If the Census Bureau is going to do a special strategy it needs to be more accessible for us. They should have publicized the Spanish-language hotline more,” Garza said.

“Everything we have heard today shows us that people do want to be counted, despite the workforce raids, despite the fear of being asked if you are an immigrant. Our community wants to be counted because we are looking at the future; we are looking after the interests of the children.”

Hidalgo County Judge Rene Ramirez was also at the Little Mexico event. Ramirez is spearheading the Yo Cuento 2010 campaign, which is holding Census outreach rallies in colonias and will soon be running ads on Spanish language TV and Radio.

“This is an awesome event. This is what it is going to take to get a complete count,” Ramirez said. “We have a Be Counted Center here, plenty of paraphernalia and a good crowd. This is where it starts, going through the media and back into the neighborhoods,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez said all the resources available to Hidalgo County were being mobilized to get a complete Census count. Tens of millions of federal dollars are at stake over the next ten years, he said. The more people that are counted the more monies flow into the county.

“We have to take every measure to protect ourselves. It is not like we are competing for a grant. We have the numbers. We have the people living here. It is what is owed to our communities.”

Ramirez said praise needs to go to the Valley’s business leaders who have contributed generously to Yo Cuento.

“I have to thank the business community, people like Alonzo Cantu, Larry Safir, Joe Phillips, people who have stepped up to the plate and contributed. They recognize the importance of this and have stepped up to the plate to compliment the efforts of the (Census) Bureau,” Ramirez said.

“Obviously, we have had some frustrations (with the Census Bureau), but we have to finish with a bang and do everything we can to finish out. We need more events like this. We need to hit the airwaves and say, here is the number, call in and we can help. It is like a political campaign, you have got to get in front of the people and sell your message.”

Asked what else he would like to say to the people of Hidalgo County, Ramirez said: “Be counted.”

Write Steve Taylor

Printable version