U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves

McALLEN, Jan. 29 - U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves will visit a colonia on the outskirts of Laredo on Monday to raise awareness of the 2010 Census throughout the border region.

Groves will visit the San Carlos colonia on Hwy 359 at the invitation of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. Also on the trip will be the Census Bureau’s regional director in Texas, Gabriel Sanchez.

Cuellar announced Groves’ visit to Laredo on Brenda Lee Huerta’s La Tremenda AM 1530 radio show on Univision on Wednesday.

“Last week, he was in Alaska. Next week he will be on the Texas-Mexico border. I am very impressed by this gentleman,” Cuellar said of Groves. “I tip my hat to him. I think he is trying to do the right thing. He is trying real hard to do everything possible to make sure we get everyone counted.”

Before the ‘walk and talk’ in the San Carlos colonia, Groves will hold a news conference in the Census Bureau’s district office in Laredo. “Robert Groves is a very accessible person. I think he will spend a good amount of time with the media,” Cuellar said.

Among the media outlets covering Groves’ visit to Laredo will be CNN, Cuellar said. “CNN is coming down, so we will have the Rio Grande Guardian and CNN and others covering this important visit,” he said.

Cuellar is the only Hispanic and the only Texans on the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, the panel that scrutinizes the work of the Census Bureau.

The Laredo Democrat met recently with Groves to urge him to put more TV advertising dollars into local media markets that cover officially designated ‘hard to count’ areas. The Texas-Mexico border region has been officially designated by the Census Bureau as a ‘hard to count’ region.

“You look at the Top 50 counties that the Census Bureau has identified as having the ‘hard to count communities, and it is us. It is Hidalgo, it is Starr, it is Webb, it is Zapata and Maverick and El Paso and Cameron,” Cuellar said.

Cuellar learned that the Census Bureau will be advertising locally in El Paso, the Rio Grande Valley, Houston and San Antonio, but not Laredo, Eagle Pass or Del Rio. “We have asked him (Groves) if he can spend a little bit more money locally. At the moment they believe they can cover these markets through their national media buys with Univision and Telemundo,” Cuellar said.

Groves visited a number of colonias in the Valley last month but the event, coordinated by Mary Lou Cavazos, a partnership specialist with the Census Bureau based in Weslaco, was not publicly announced.

Cavazos told Guardian reporter Joey Gomez last month that the border region is the hardest region of America to count because so many residents are fearful of talking to government officials. She said they trust promotoras and the non-profits that work in the colonias.

Census forms will be mailed out in mid-March. Census Day is April 1. Cuellar said Groves has agreed to provide him with a daily progress report on how many census forms are being returned by border region residents. “If we find the forms are not being returned more resources will be placed here,” Cuellar said.

Cuellar said border residents have nothing to fear by filling out the census forms. “It is the shortest form in history with just ten questions. It is secure. The information will not be shared with any federal agency. Anybody that violates that confidentiality is subject to federal penalties,” Cuellar said.

Cuellar said the importance of a full and accurate census count cannot be over-estimated along the border. “It determines whether we get an extra congressional district. Right now we get three for sure. If we do a good job across the state we will gain another member of Congress,” he said.

Also at stake is a lot of federal money. Every year the federal government distributes $400 billion to local, state and tribal governments, based in whole or in part on Census data.

“The census count will have an impact for the next ten years,” Cuellar said. “If we get it right we will not only be increasing our electoral opportunities but also the amount of money that comes down from Washington. If we don’t get it right we are going to be shortchanging our people for the next ten years. So, we have to get it right.”

Colonel Ray, host of the afternoon show on KURV TalkRadio 710 in the Valley, told the Guardian that Cuellar will be on his show via telephone on Monday to talk about Groves’ visit to the San Carlos colonia.

Write Steve Taylor

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