Open Media Boston Opposes Call for Immigrants to Boycott Census, Invites Proponents to Respond

It's always difficult when you have to disagree with a friend, and this is never more true than when the disagreement is over a political question. But on Tuesday, the Boston Globe - and numerous other local and national media outlets - quoted Fausto da Rocha, the Executive Director of the Brazilian Immigrant Center in Allston as supporting a campaign by a national faith-based coalition, the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, to tell immigrants to boycott the upcoming 2010 Census. To withhold their participation to ostensibly put pressure on politicians to back immigrant rights legislation. Now da Rocha is someone I've known on and off for about a decade, mostly through work in support of immigrant and workers rights in Massachusetts. And even though I haven't seen him much in the last 4 or 5 years, I still consider him a friend.

I am therefore well aware that da Rocha has become a local leader in charismatic Christian movments that mostly started here in the U.S. 100 or more years ago, went to Brazil through sustained missionary efforts, swept through that country like wildfire in the past couple of decades, and returned back here via thousands of Brazilian immigrant converts like da Rocha himself. I am also aware then that he has some views I agree with. And some that I don't agree with. Some I consider progressive. And some that I consider conservative. But that's o.k. I don't expect to agree with all my friends on all matters.

It's inevitable that as these new immigrant-based evangelical churches - many of them Pentacostal denominations like the Assemblies of God - grow, they gain money and resources. Including their own media outlets. With those gains come the beginnings of political power. And this is natural. Even for churches like the ones in question that believe that what happens in hereafter is far more important than what happens here on Earth.

It makes perfect sense that leaders of these new churches should form national organizations like this National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders to represent their political interests. And that they should start campaigns on key issues to flex their political muscles; so to speak.

This figurative muscle-flexing is part of what I see behind this position against immigrants participating in the census - a move opposed by virtually ever other pro-immigrant organization and coalition in the U.S. Including the Brazilian Immigrant Center that Fausto has worked hard to build up for many years. His own board opposed him on this, which is worth noting.

In any case, this new national coalition has staked out a position outside the mainstream of immigrant advocate organizations. Speaking for Open Media Boston, I can say that we are absolutely against this position. Keeping immigrants out of the census is tantamount to political and economic suicide - and makes little sense as a policy position given that it could help eliminate a number of Congressional seats held by pro-immigrant politicians in states like Massachusetts with large immigrant populations. And that it will definitely help eliminate money for services desperately needed by immigrant familes - like schools, transportation, senior services and health care. From a social science perspective it could heavily skew data that advocates use to combat nativist movements and build the case that immigrantion is positive on the balance for the U.S.

As it happens, the Census Bureau - which has recently launched a Foreign-Born/Immigrant Initiative - even went to the trouble of meeting with me to enlist Open Media Boston's aid in reaching into immigrant communities to encourage people to participate in the census for the aforementioned and many other good reasons. All their materials are quite clear that the Census never asks the immigration status of respondants; so there is no risk to immigrants to participate and much they stand to gain by doing so.

This all then begs the question of why the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders has chosen to break with the rest of the immigrant advocacy community on this particular issue.

I'm not entirely sure about that; so I want to ask da Rocha and his colleagues to respond here in Open Media Boston with a full explanation of their rationale for taking the position that a major immigrant boycott of the census will somehow force Congress to pass pro-immigrant legislation in the near-term.

Before we hopefully hear from da Rocha et al, however, I will say this - the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders is a pretty conservative group. Their platform starts off by stating that they are unequivacoly opposed to abortion and gay marriage and that they would like prayer to be legal in public schools. The platform also takes some decent stands on health care, public education, housing and social services. But that's only natural since most immigrants aren't even going to think about following their lead without those planks.

So leading off with the socially conservative stuff, makes it fairly clear to me that they want to become a dominant force in U.S. public life. And they want to roll back the clock on hard won reforms like abortion rights, reverse gains made on gay marriage, and contravene Constitional guarantees about separation of church and state in the service of that goal.

I would never argue that it is not their prerogative to do that - although I will fight such efforts tooth and nail in the political arena.

But beyond those stands - again - I have to ask why are they burning significant political credibility to back a census boycott?

Could it be that they would actually prefer immigrant churches like theirs to dominate the provision of needed services to their parishoners? And more than that, to strangle public social service programs for immigrants by causing a significant undercount of the immigrant population? Thus forcing immigrants nationwide to come to their churches for whatever services are on offer, no matter how insufficient they may be - and ultimately vastly expanding church rolls and political power in one fell swoop?

Perhaps. I hope that's not what's behind this campaign. But I worry that it is something like that.

I leave it to da Rocha and the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders to explain their call for an immigrant boycott. I will contact them this week to offer them space to do that here in Open Media Boston. I will also make the same offer to immigrant leaders that disagree with the boycott.

A full and free exchange on this issue should be helpful to all parties to this debate, and this publication will do its best to make that happen.