Asian Law Caucus
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carlo De La Cruz
Special Projects Coordinator
carlod@asianlawcaucus.org
(415) 896-1701, Ext. 121

 Thursday, May 13, 2010
Census Shifts From Collecting Forms by Mail to Going "Door-to-Door" To Ensure An Accurate Count

SAN FRANCISCO - As the Census Bureau begins to send out Census workers to go "door-to-door" to assist households in filling out their Census forms, Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders urge the community to work with the Census workers to ensure that everyone gets counted. 
 
The Census Bureau stopped receiving mailed responses of Census forms at the end of April.  Households that did not return their forms by the end of April can expect to receive a visit from an "enumerator" in May.  An enumerator is a Census Bureau worker who will go "door-to-door" to help households fill out the Census forms, beginning in May.
 
The enumerators will have official U.S. Census Bureau badges and may visit the homes of those who did not fill out their Census forms up to six times. Although many Census Bureau workers are bilingual or multilingual, they may not speak the language of every household they visit.  Instead, they will carry booklets with Language Assistance Guides (LAGs) in more than 59 languages.  Community members are encouraged to cooperate with enumerators at their door.  The enumerators will ask the 10 questions on the Census forms, including age, sex, race and ethnic background, and home ownership.  Community members can (and should) ask to see the Census Bureau badge in order to protect themselves from possible fraudulent crimes.
 
"This is a critical and final opportunity for our community and all under resourced communities to ensure that we all get counted for this Census," said An Le, Census 2010 Manager at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.  "It may be intimidating for our communities to get a knock on the door by an official government worker, but everyone should feel safe knowing that the Census Bureau workers will not ask for information about immigration status or Social Security Numbers.  All information collected is confidential and cannot be shared with any governmental agency.  Essentially the census form cannot be used against the individual, family, or household in any way."
 
Some key neighborhoods have fallen behind the national and state average in the mail-in participation rates of the Census.  Neighborhoods in Oakland and Richmond had a lower mail-in rate than the California state average of 71% and lower than Alameda County's average of 72%.  These neighborhoods, predominantly located in Uptown and City Center Oakland and Central Richmond, had a mail-in participation rate of 50%, 52%, and 60% respectively.  With lowest performing tract located in Jack London Square with a response rate of 45%, a shocking 27% behind the Alameda County average.  Moreover, Alameda County currently has 39 tracts that have a response rate of 60% or less, a relatively high number compared San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, and Marin County which have 18, 1, 5, 6, and 4 tracts below 60% respectively. 
 
"Low response rates may be due to fear and distrust of the government that responses will be shared with other governmental agencies, particularly among those who are undocumented or are living in non-traditional housing situations.  There are also language issues and the recent increase in foreclosures makes it difficult for people to participate in the census" said Catherine Pyun of the Korean Community Center of the East Bay.
 
"Targeted Census outreach and education in languages other than English was much better than 10 years ago. But in addition to the usual barriers of fear of government or language, many community members work long hours and maybe multiple jobs with irregular hours and haven't taken the time to understand and fill out the form. Many such residents live in apartment buildings that do not have working intercoms or buzzers and enumerators may have difficulty accessing them where they live or even leaving messages that they were there," said Warren Fong of Family Bridges, Inc.
 
In addition to non-traditional housing situations, the many communities may also have concerns about protecting their personal information from immigration enforcement. 
 
"There are a significant number of API and Latino immigrants in Oakland who are undocumented," said Carlo De La Cruz, Special Projectors Coordinator of the Asian Law Caucus.  "Even though the Census Bureau collects information on everyone living in the U.S., regardless of their citizenship status, people are afraid of participating in the Census because they're afraid that their information will be shared with others who would use it against them.  We want to assure the community that there are a lot of safeguards to prevent their information from being shared, including fines and prison time."
 
According to Dang Pham, Bay Area Senior Partnership Specialist of the Census Bureau, the door-to-door process can be very simple if the community works with the Census Bureau workers that come to their door.  "The Census Bureau identified the households that did not mail in their Census forms, and will be sending out Census Bureau enumerators who will come to those houses up to six times to assist in filling out the forms," said Pham.  "They will ask the questions that are on the Census forms, and nothing more.  Because it costs the Census Bureau $56 for each time that a Census worker comes to your door, we really encourage people to work with the Census worker the first opportunity they can to minimize the costs."
 
As the 2010 Census campaign starts its final phase, this is the last opportunity for residents to help their community receive their fair share of funding and voice within the United States government, so please work with the Census Bureau by opening your doors and answering the 10 questions.  If you wish to verify the identity of a Census Worker, please call: 1-877-471-5432
 
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ASIAN LAW CAUCUS (ALC) - The mission of the Asian Law Caucus is to promote, advance, and represent the legal and civil rights of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist in the United States, the Asian Law Caucus is committed to the pursuit of equality and justice for all sectors of our society with a specific focus directed toward addressing the needs of low-income and Asian and Pacific Islanders. Visit: asianlawcaucus.org

Asian Law Caucus
55 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, California 94111