Posted on 01/19/2007 6:10:16 AM PST by GQuagmire
Bay State officials seeking to save a coveted congressional seat are turning for help to residents who cant even vote: illegal immigrants.
A census of the often-maligned underground residents - who face constant calls for their deportation - could be critical to reaching a population total that could preserve the seat.
We need to chase them, Secretary of State William Galvin said yesterday, stressing the need for an all local hunt for everyone living here.
Crucial to the census success: Convincing the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 illegal immigrants that they will simply be counted, not arrested.
This is for real. A congressional seat is on the line, said Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.
A high cost of living is driving younger residents out of the Bay State, which lags dramatically behind states in the South and the West in population growth. Massachusetts could lose one of its 10 seats in the U.S. House, as well as political clout and millions of dollars in federal funds appropriated by congressional district.
The money to fund many important federal programs is distributed to the states on the basis of population, so everyone in Massachusetts has a major stake in ensuring that we are not shortchanged by failing to get an accurate population count, warned U.S. Rep. Edward Markey (D-Malden), the senior member of the states congressional delegation.
The next U.S. Census kicks off in about three years. The states current population is slightly more than 6.5 million.
A Census immigrant expert who this week is visiting Framingham, where there is a large Brazilian community, vowed the Census questionnaire will reach everybody using the latest street lists and even global-positioning systems.
We take our responsibility very seriously, said Cesar Monzon, a Boston Census Bureau specialist.
Monzon said Census officials struggle to track down foreign-born men age 18 to 44 and their children, even though the Census demands they be counted.
Kathleen Ludgate, executive director of the U.S. Census Bureaus Boston region, said yesterday her office is out earlier to solve the immigrant puzzle in time for the 2010 count.
Were working with all communities to get the most accurate count we can, she said.
Galvin said Cambodians in Lowell, Russians in Westfield, Brazilians in Framingham and Latinos in Lawrence are all target groups. He added college students must be counted, too
*honest politics* is an oxymoron.
Illegals should not count period when it comes to represenation. And the only hunting of them the government should do should be for deportation purposes.
bump
Why in the world would illegals count for congressional representation? That makes no sense whatsoever.
obviously we need another law so our Congress can ignore that one ,too.
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