Marilyn DeYoung: The 2010 Census and the Ghost Population
Counting on the census to register residents just doesn't add up
By Marilyn Brant Chandler "Missy" DeYoung | Published on 03.22.2010

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The Census Bureau’s questionnaires are in millions of homes right now, but are they in every home? No. And will they reflect honestly the number of persons living in each household? No. They will miss approximately 6 percent to 8 percent of families residing in the United States who are here illegally, but who refuse to be counted. In 2000 the final return mail was only 78.4 percent, even after Census Bureau people went door to door to query those who hadn’t responded. The 2000 census undercounted 12 million illegal aliens.


There is no exact count of illegal aliens in the United States. Discrepancies abound. The Census Bureau says there are 10.8 million. An economic calculation by Bear Sterns reported in 2006 that the count was 20 million. The Border Patrol union based its estimate of between 12 million and 15 million on border apprehensions at 1.1 million a year, versus those who got across without being caught — a 3-to-1 ratio. The Pew Hispanic Center stated, in 2005, “that unauthorized migrants to the United States number between11.5 (million and) 12 millionâ€