Immigrant fears over census addressed at Morristown forum
By VANESSA VERA • STAFF WRITER • July 19, 2009


MORRISTOWN -- Concerns over how the legal status of residents and the recent approval of Morristown's 287(g) application might affect participation in next year's census were among issues discussed at an informational seminar held Saturday.


Two census seminars, one held in Dover, the other in Morristown, were hosted by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, in an effort to encourage local participation in the upcoming April 1, 2010, census.

The Constitution requires a census be taken every 10 years. Census figures, among other things, help to determine how $300 billion in federal funding is distributed, as well as congressional representation and planning for social services.

A population count is due to President Barack Obama by December 2010.

Representatives of the U.S. Census Bureau, a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce, were present to discuss the upcoming census and answer any questions the dozen or so members of the Morristown audience had, including about the safety and confidentiality of census information.

Census Bureau representatives assured those in attendance that information provided in the census, which will be mailed to American households starting next March, is constitutionally protected and secure, even from other government agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security.

Legally, the Census Bureau cannot release identifying information for 72 years.

But with the approval earlier this month of Morristown's application to join 287(g), a program that will allow local police officers to be trained as de facto immigration agents, concerns over any connection between the two agencies were addressed.

"Although we are all government, (immigration) is a different department that has nothing to do with the census," said William Mercado, an area manager for the Census Bureau.

Citizenship status is not even a question on the short census form, Geraldine Clark, partnership coordinator for the Census Bureau, said. More information is provided for a credit card application than what is asked for on the census, she said.

Despite assurances from the Census Bureau that there is nothing undocumented immigrants should fear regarding filling out the form, Wayne Cresta, rent leveling and senior services manager for Morristown, expressed personal reservations on the matter.

Cresta, also a census liaison for the town and former chairman of the County Human Relations Commission, said he is personally against 287(g) and speculates that because of it the town may not get the same cooperation it got from the immigrant community for the 2000 census.

He said 287(g) should not affect the census, but it will.

"Hopefully I'm wrong," Cresta said. "People are scared stiff, the people that we're going to count."

But it's precisely because of those fears that the Census Bureau, and Frelinghuysen, are reaching out to the community.

The ultimate message to get out, a Census Bureau representative said, is that the census is "easy, safe and important."

Frelinghuysen, who is an active supporter of the census, said that in Morristown, 287(g) "complicates" getting people to respond to the census. Nevertheless, he is hopeful leaders, religious groups, organizations and politicians he has reached out to will actively participate in the cause.

The Morris County area is diverse and home to large populations of Indian, Asian and Latino people, Frelinghuysen said.

"And the census should reflect and count everyone, regardless of their status," he said.

Vanessa Vera: vvera@gannett.com

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/2009 ... 005/NEWS01