In Santa Ana, faith-based groups are teaching church leaders to preach the gospel of the U.S. census, encouraging legal immigrants and those who ae in the country illegally to participate in hopes it will lead to immigration reform.
At the same time, an anti-illegal immigration group in Huntington Beach is urging U.S. citizens to fill out only one census question saying they don't want to be counted alongside those who are in the country illegally.
As America prepares for the government's count that launches mid-march, the census is fast becoming the latest battleground in the heated immigration debate. Nationally and locally, groups on both sides of the issue are urging their troops to either boycott or participate in the Census to send a message to decision makers in Washington, D.C.
Immigration activists have attempted to politicize the Census since the 1980s, said Vincent Barabba, a former Census Bureau director who served under President Ronald Reagan.
Still, others say this year's census is particularly a lightning rod for immigration activists because of the faltering economy, which is fanning already-flared tensions about the issue.
[Posted by Brenda Diaz]
http://www.ocregister.com/news/census-239006-immigration-reform.html
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