Valley Roundup
Latinos have been encouraged to seek assistance with their U.S. Census forms at five centers that opened this week in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
The Questionnaire Assistance Centers, operated by the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund and census officials, will offer bilingual assistance for Spanish-speakers during weekend and weekday hours until mid-April.
“In 1990, Latinos were one of the most undercounted populations in the nation,” said Carlos Vaquerano, SALDEF’s executive director.
Census officials joined Vaquerano at a press conference Wednesday in front of the MacArthur Park subway station to call attention to the decennial survey.
Latinos “can benefit from a lot of the services that are funded based on the results” of the census, said Nancy Ramirez of the California Complete Count Campaign, which funds the assistance centers.
Vaquerano also reminded immigrants that census information is confidential and will not be reported to any other federal agencies, including the INS.
Advance letters alerting residents about the coming census have been sent. The questionnaires will be mailed early next week, said Oscar Reconco of the Census Bureau’s Los Angeles office.
For information on the assistance centers’ hours and locations, call (213) 480-1052.
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