Advocates seek to use census data to secure clout for Hispanics

SAN ANTONIO — For Anna Alicia Romero and other Hispanic activists, the release of final census numbers this week signaled the official start of an audacious new campaign: securing as many as 10 new Hispanic congressional districts across the country.

Romero’s work began two years ago, when she traveled to Texas’s “colonias” to urge reluctant residents of the impoverished border settlements to fill out their census forms. Now, with figures showing that more than half the nation’s growth was driven by Hispanics, activists are poised to convert those numbers into political muscle.

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New census numbers showing tremendous growth among Hispanics is helping fuel the fiery debate over anti-immigrant measures in states like Georgia. (March 24)

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 Bloomingdale in Northwest Washington was more than 90 percent black a decade ago, but its racial makeup has undergone a radical shift.

The question is whether they will come close to their goal. Political boundaries will be redrawn in many cases by Republican-controlled statehouses that might be reluctant to maximize voting power for a Democratic-leaning ethnic group. And the fact that many Latinos are not citizens or do not regularly vote also could pose a challenge.

Still, activists say they are determined to take full advantage of this rare opportunity to increase their political clout, and will turn to the Justice Department if necessary to ensure they get their fair share.

“We know as the Latino community that power is not given away. Power is taken,” said Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, a nonpartisan advocacy group. “We know that the [population] increases are largely due to our community’s growth. And we intend to translate that to opportunities for our community to have more fair representation in this country.”

The fight is already playing out here in Texas, where the overall population surged so dramatically that the state will gain four congressional seats. Republican lawmakers drawing the new map must contend with the numbers: Nearly two-thirds of the state’s growth is attributable to Latinos. Hispanic leaders want at least two, and as many as all four, of the new districts to be drawn so that the majority of the population will be Hispanics.

The goal is not only to elect more Hispanics to Congress, but also to ensure that anyone running for office will be forced to listen to Hispanic voters and protect their interests. About 30 districts currently show majority-Hispanic populations, not all of which elected Hispanics to Congress.

Similar pushes for Hispanic districts are underway in several states, including New York, which grew by just 2 percent but saw its Latino population surge 19 percent; California, where advocates are pushing for the creation of as many as three Hispanic-majority seats; Arizona, where Hispanics have objected to recent efforts to curb illegal immigration; and Nevada, where activists are trying to create the state’s first Hispanic-majority district in Las Vegas.

The campaigns, which are being carried out by nonpartisan advocacy groups, come as 2010 Census numbers released Thursday confirmed that Hispanics fueled the country’s growth between 2000 and 2010.

Some of the jump in Hispanic numbers stems from work that began years ago among activists like Romero to reduce the historic undercount among Latinos, some of whom avoid government counters, while others ignore the mailed forms or simply can’t be found.