Census boycott isolates Latino Christian leader

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. (RNS) In the past, when the Rev. Miguel Rivera came out publicly in support of illegal immigrants, he could count on widespread support from other national Latino leaders. Not this time. As president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, Rivera, 56, is urging illegal immigrants nationwide to boycott […]

RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. (RNS) In the past, when the Rev. Miguel Rivera came out publicly in support of illegal immigrants, he could count on widespread support from other national Latino leaders.

Not this time.


As president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, Rivera, 56, is urging illegal immigrants nationwide to boycott the upcoming U.S. census unless comprehensive immigration reform is passed before the census count begins in April.

Many Latino leaders, however, say the pastor’s call is irresponsible and ultimately damaging to those it purports to help. The debate has flared since last spring on Latino-interest radio talk shows and in churches, and could rekindle as the census nears.

Rivera said the leadership of his organization, which represents 20,000 churches across 34 states, launched the boycott after years of broken political promises on immigration reform that would legalize the status of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

President Obama had said such reform would be a priority his first year in office, but has postponed action. Latino leaders, now being promised a bill this year, are nervous that this year’s midterm elections, combined with an already packed congressional calendar, will hurt its chances.

The U.S. Constitution mandates a census be taken every 10 years. Results help determine congressional representation and districting for the upcoming decade, along with distribution of more than $400 billion in government funding.

Rivera has defended the boycott by saying illegal immigrants should not effectively help their city or state’s population count if they are not given the full rights of citizens. And he has warned that politicians could use general census data to launch crusades against illegal immigrants, even though census forms do not ask about immigration status, and personal information from the census is kept confidential by law.

“There is sufficient (census) data available … to pinpoint and get an example of how many undocumented immigrants are in your region,” he said. “And if you’re a politician who has nothing else to provide to your constituents in order to get re-elected, it’s very easy to go against undocumented immigrants.”

To officials of Latino organizations striving to increase census participation by members of their historically undercounted group, any boycott is counterproductive on its face.


“Census data is used to decide where we put hospitals, where we put schools, and how we address public safety concerns,” said Rosalind Gold, senior director of policy research and advocacy for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. “A full count of immigrants will ensure that their communities get the resources they need to address the economic and educational needs of the residents.”

Gold’s group raised eyebrows in evangelical circles last month when it distributed a poster to 7,000 churches that features Joseph and a pregnant Virgin Mary traveling to Bethlehem to be counted in a Roman census, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. “Joseph and Mary Participated in the Census,” the poster said. “Don’t Be Afraid.”

Calls for a boycott play on emotions rather than logic, said Josh Norek, deputy director of Voto Latino, which seeks to increase voter turnout and civic participation by young Latinos.

“It’s a very flawed and misguided message he (Rivera) is putting out there,” Norek said. “He’s taking advantage of the fact that there’s a lot of anger within the Latino community that immigration reform has not been passed. However, the census and immigration reform are two completely separate issues.”

Rivera, born and raised in Puerto Rico, settled in New Jersey in 1982.

In 1998, he and other Latino clergy founded the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which takes socially conservative positions on abortion and same-sex marriage while trying to help illegal immigrants.

In 2006, the coalition sued the town of Riverside, N.J., after it passed a law banning people from hiring or renting to illegal immigrants. The town, which has a large population of Brazilian immigrants, rescinded the law in 2007.


Support for the boycott — its battle cry is, “Before Enumeration We Demand Legalization!” — is strong within the coalition, which has a few million members in its churches, about 40 percent of whom are in the country illegally, Rivera said.

“These people come to work, doing great things for our land, and they have no representation,” said the Rev. Jose Lopez, whose Guttenberg, N.J., church is a member of the coalition. “Immigrants don’t have a voice. They give so much to our country. … We are a voice for justice demanding that before you count our brothers and sisters, let’s fix the problem.”

(Jeff Diamant writes for The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.)

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