Knock, Knock: Census Workers or Immigration Raid?

Just when we thought things would be a little different under the Obama administration — because we were promised so much "change" — we realize that we are getting more of the same. On some issues with which we expected clear improvement, things are actually getting worse.

On two issues of particular importance to the nation's 45 million Latinos — immigration reform and census participation — the Obama administration clearly has failed to live up to the expectations of many of the Latino voters who sent them to the White House last November.

Those two issues came together last week, when Obama's Commerce Department said it would not ask Obama's Homeland Security Department to halt immigration raids during the period when federal workers will be knocking on doors to conduct the 2010 census, starting April 1.

This is change, but it's for the worse.

During the 2000 census, many illegal immigrants were able to shed their fears and participate because immigration raids had been informally suspended, at the request of Census Bureau officials, to encourage participation among inner-city minorities and members of other hard-to-count communities.

Yet 10 years later, under a "liberal" president who promised so much change to Latinos, a Commerce Department spokesman told The Associated Press that "neither the Commerce Department nor the Census Bureau will ask DHS to refrain from exercising their lawful authority" to conduct immigration raids.

That is the response that could be expected from a Republican administration. In fact, the idea of calling off the raids in 2010 already had been rejected, when it was presented to the Bush administration two years ago. But coming from the Obama administration, it felt like a low blow.

Like a broken record, current Census Bureau officials keep claiming that they are committed to getting an accurate count of all U.S. residents — legal and illegal. But they sure don't act like it, not when they think they can do it in spite of the continuation of immigration raids.

Since the president took office, Latino leaders have been urging him to call off the immigration raids, period.

Yet the thought that his Census Bureau will not even do what the bureau did under the Clinton administration, the unwillingness to ask for even just a freeze on the raids, speaks volumes about the political capital the president obviously is unwilling to spend to repay the Latinos who elected him.

Whatever happened to "Sí, se puede — Yes, we can!"?

Unfortunately, many of the Latino leaders who should be blasting the president for allowing things to get even worse for undocumented immigrants were Obama's surrogates during his campaign for president. Because they asked Latinos to vote for Obama, now they find it hard to admit that the president is not "doing the right thing" for their community.

In fact, they find it much easier to criticize the Rev. Miguel Rivera, one of few Latino leaders who have had the guts to assert some pressure on the Obama administration and the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress. Rivera, who leads the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, has called on undocumented immigrants to boycott the census until the Democrats deliver on their promise to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation. On Saturday, Oct. 10, Rivera will lead a prayer rally for immigration reform in Manhattan's Battery Park.

Of course, boycotting the census would be counterproductive, not only for undocumented immigrants but also for all U.S. residents. Because census data is used to determine the distribution of nearly $450 billion in federal aid to local communities, cities with large illegal immigrant populations could stand to lose significant funding.

It's a crazy idea, an act of desperation, but it displays the kind of courage sorely lacked by those Latino leaders who remain deeply entrenched with the president and unwilling to admit that on the crucial issues of immigration reform and census participation, Obama has failed them.

To find out more about Miguel Perez and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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