Los Angeles Times - 06.08.2019

A8 TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2019 LATIMES.COM

accounted for 40% of those
under 5 who were missed in
the last tally.
Webb County, Texas,
home to Laredo, ranked the
worst nationwide, according
to data provided by William
O’Hare, a demographer who
has studied the 2010 under-
count for the Census Bu-
reau.
The most pronounced
undercounts have come in
areas that, like Laredo, have
large populations of undocu-
mented immigrants, O’Hare
found.
Some demographers ex-
pect the pattern to worsen.
Laredo is predicted to
have one of the lowest re-
sponse rates to the 2020 cen-
sus, according to the Census
Bureau. Southern California
cities like Los Angeles and
border communities also
rank among the country’s
toughest to fully count.
The impacts of another
undercount will be far-
reaching, said Cassie Davis,
a research analyst at the
Center for Public Policy Pri-
orities, a think tank based in
Austin.
“When young children
are not counted properly,”
Davis said, “it affects them
for their whole childhood.”
Census data is used to
distribute nearly $900 billion
in annual federal funding,
supporting schools, health-
care, food stamps, foster
care and special education.
Latino children, who dispro-
portionately live in poverty,
are among the most in need
of government help.
In Texas, some local offi-
cials have estimated that
they will receive as much as
$1,578 less per year in federal
funding for each person who
is not counted in next year’s
census.
The Census Bureau says
a complex set of social and
economic challenges con-
tribute to why Latino chil-
dren are overlooked, citing,
among other factors, lan-
guage barriers and frequent
moves between rental units
for some families. The
agency is banking on out-
reach, education and re-
forms to how the count is ad-
ministered to encourage as
many people as possible to
participate.
Potentially frustrating
those efforts is Trump’s
failed attempt to add a citi-
zenship question to next
year’s count. The move
aligned with the president’s
vows to crack down on illegal
immigration but ultimately
faltered despite his threats
to move forward even after
the Supreme Court ruling.
Nonetheless, the White
House effort drew wide pub-
licity and many here in Webb
County are now concerned
that information collected
by the census could be used
to find and deport people
who are in the country il-
legally. The agency, for its
part, says census responses
are confidential and can be
used only for statistical pur-
poses.
“To most people the Cen-
sus Bureau is not any differ-
ent from ICE,” said Deborah
Griffin, a retired Census Bu-
reau researcher, referring to
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, which con-
ducts deportations.
In Webb County, where
96% of residents are Latino,
“everyone knows someone
who is undocumented,” said
Arturo Garcia, director of
the Laredo Community De-
velopment Department.

Garcia sits on the re-

cently formed Complete

Count Committee, which is

made up of city and county

leaders, and is focused on

ensuring that nobody goes

uncounted. Recent head-

lines about ICE raids, he

said, have put the communi-

ty on edge.

“One parent might be un-

documented and the other a

U.S. citizen.... Well, their kids

are American citizens who

need to be counted,” Garcia

said. “But it’s difficult be-

cause on one hand people

have a genuine fear of the

federal government, but on

the other we’re asking them

to trust the federal govern-

ment.”

In an effort to inform the

community, the panel re-

cently released a series of

web and television ads, in

English and Spanish, urging

participation. The videos

stress that any information

shared with census officials

is confidential.

Since last year, more

than two dozen states have

created similar committees,

with several others at the lo-

cal level. Lawmakers in Cali-

fornia have set aside more

than $150 million in budget

funds for programs to en-

sure a complete enumera-

tion of vulnerable popula-

tions.

But Texas — the state

with the second-largest Lat-

ino population in the coun-

try — hasn’t targeted any

money to tackle an under-

count. In 2010, Texas lost the

most federal funding of any

state — $119 million — from

five federal programs be-

cause of the undercount of

young children, according to

research by Count All Kids,

an umbrella group of na-

tional, state and local or-

ganizations.

Several outreach groups,

including NALEO Educa-

tional Fund, a national or-

ganization that advocates

for Latino participation in

civic life, are working in com-

munities including Laredo

to ensure an accurate tally.

“We need to educate

adults because children

can’t make themselves

count,” said Arturo Vargas,

the group’s chief executive

officer.

A report by the Leader-

ship Conference Education

Fund, a Washington-based

civil rights group, found that

funding for programs that

many Latino children rely on

— special education grants,

childcare, foster care —

could be severely affected by

an undercount.

The federal government

allocates $8.3 billion each

year for Head Start, the pre-

kindergarten programs

aimed at helping children

develop early reading and

math skills. The report

found that 37% of Latino

children nationwide partici-

pate in Head Start.

While the funding for

such programs is crucial to

help Latino children, activ-

ists say it’s difficult to ease

concerns and avoid an

undercount amid near-con-

stant headlines about raids.

On a recent afternoon, Mike

Smith, who runs a commu-

nity center in Laredo that

has housed families seeking

asylum, sat behind a desk

stacked with fliers announc-

ing upcoming protests and

vigils.

Smith, who also serves as

a pastor at a Laredo church,

said that his phone at the

community center, less than

a mile from the border, has

been ringing for months

with calls of concern. People

are even afraid to go to work,

Smith said.

As Smith sees it, an

undercount is inevitable and

next year’s will be worse

than those in the past.

“There is no question of

another undercount, prob-

ably more so than last time,”

said Smith, who grew up in

Laredo and has family mem-

bers living in the country il-

legally. “You can tell a lot of

these families that the infor-

mation will be confidential,

but there is a lot of fear and

rightfully so.”

Smith works alongside

local groups that hold ses-

sions informing people that

they don’t have to live in the

shadows and that they have

rights. But a fear of the fed-

eral government persists, he

said, adding that many also

are concerned about state

measures such as a 2017

Texas law banning sanctu-

ary cities.

In spite of the fears, some

in Laredo say they take

pride in having their chil-

dren counted. They say it

represents an official ac-

knowledgment of their exist-

ence and role in the U.S.

“I may never count on pa-

per, but they will,” said Ilse

Mendez, 32, whose family

moved to Laredo from its

sister city in Mexico, Nuevo

Laredo, when she was 2

years old.

Mendez’s mother

crossed with her into Texas

through the Rio Grande, in-

spired largely by a desire to

get better medical treat-

ment for Mendez’s sister,

who was born with a birth

defect. Because Mendez was

2 at the time, she qualified in

2013 for temporary protec-

tion to stay in the country

under an Obama-era policy

known as Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals. The

policy, DACA for short, is

now before the Supreme

Court, which is set to rule on

whether the Trump admin-

istration can rescind the

protections.

For Mendez, who works

in the healthcare system, it’s

critical that her two young-

est children — Aaliyah, 5,

and Aalizah, 3, both U.S. citi-

zens — be counted.

“They are just as Ameri-

can as any child,” she said on

a recent afternoon as she

and her children sat on

benches in a park along the

banks of the river. Across the

Rio Grande in Mexico, men

held fishing rods in the water

and teenagers dipped their

feet in the slow current to es-

cape from the heavy humid-

ity.

Silva, the pastor, said

that although the issue con-

tinues to weigh on her, she

too is leaning toward filling

out the survey.

On a recent Sunday in-

side her tiny storefront

church, Silva preached a

message of love and belong-

ing — immigrants and asy-

lum seekers, she said, belong

here in the United States.

“They deserve our love,

our protection,” she said, her

eyes closed and hands point-

ing at the tile ceiling. “We are

all one.”

In recent weeks, many of

her congregants have

skipped church, she said,

fearing ICE officials might

show up. At the end of her 30-

minute sermon, the few con-

gregants in attendance filed

out quickly into the muggy

afternoon air.

“We’re a blended family,”

Silva said. “We all count and

should not be fearful.”

Lee reported from Laredo

and Kambhampati from

Los Angeles.

Trying to get Latino kids counted

[Census,from A1]

“I MAY never count on paper, but they will,” says Ilse Mendez of her daughters. Mendez’s parents moved to the U.S. when she was just 2.

Callaghan O’HareFor The Times

(Age, in years)

-4.0% -2.0% 0 2.0%

Source: 2010 US Census

Sandhya Kambhampati Los Angeles Times

85+

80-

75-

70-

65-

60-

55-

50-

45-

40-

35-

30-

25-

20-

15-

10-

5-

0-

Undercount Overcount

–4.6%

–2.

2.

1.

2.

–0.

–0.

1.

0.

1.

2.

2.

–0.

–0.

–0.

–0.

–0.

1.

Children under 5 are most

likely to be undercounted

mailing 16 pipe bombs days

before the midterm election

last fall.

“He hated his victims, he

wished them no good, but he

was not so lost as to wish

them dead, at least not by

his own hand,” the judge

said.

NEW YORK — A Florida
amateur body builder who
admitted sending pipe
bombs to prominent Demo-
crats and CNN was sen-
tenced to 20 years in prison
Monday by a judge who con-
cluded the bombs purposely
were not designed to ex-
plode.
Cesar Sayoc, 57, wept and
crossed himself, appearing
relieved, when U.S. District
Judge Jed S. Rakoff an-
nounced the sentence.
Prosecutors had urged a
life prison term for Sayoc,
who pleaded guilty after

The onetime stripper

and pizza delivery man from

Aventura, Fla., apologized to

his victims, saying he was

“so very sorry for what I did.”

His targets included Hil-

lary Clinton, former Vice

President Joe Biden, several

members of Congress, for-

mer President Obama and

actor Robert De Niro. Devic-

es were also mailed to CNN

offices in New York and At-

lanta.

Assistant Federal De-

fender Marcus Amelkin said

Sayoc was obsessed with

President Trump and grew

to believe Democrats were

to blame for damage to his

van, which was plastered

with Trump stickers and im-

ages of crosshairs superim-

posed over the faces of

Trump opponents. Sayoc

“looked up to the president

as a father figure,” the lawyer

said.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Jane

Kim said Sayoc “set out to

terrorize people” and had

not sufficiently shown re-

morse.

“Politics cannot justify a

terrorist attack,” she said,

while the judge dismissed

talk of Trump as a “side-

show.”

Sayoc read from a hand-

written statement shortly

before he was sentenced,

saying he blamed a life of

mental illness, a childhood

sexual assault he suffered

from a boarding school

teacher, excessive use of

steroids and his failure to lis-

ten to his mother, “the love of

my life.”

“I was in deep denial. I

understand now that I have

committed a very serious

crime,” Sayoc said.

“I wish more than any-

thing I could turn back time

and take back what I did,” he

added. “With all my heart

and soul, I feel the pain and

suffering of these victims

and I will be apologizing to

them for the rest of my life.”

Prior to hearing from law-

yers, Rakoff questioned two

bomb experts and two doc-

tors who examined Sayoc.

The bomb experts, one

an FBI agent and one hired

by the defense, agreed Say-

oc’s packages were not con-

figured to explode. As the

judge noted, the clocks were

not set and wires were not

attached.

The psychiatric experts

who examined Sayoc at the

request of the defense

agreed that steroids influ-

enced his behavior, particu-

larly his delusions and ob-

sessions.

In all, 16 rudimentary

pipe bombs were mailed to

addresses in New York, New

Jersey, Delaware, California,

Washington, D.C., and At-

lanta. None exploded.

In letters to the judge,

Sayoc has said he abused

steroids for more than four

decades and was using 274

different supplements and

vitamins along with “heavy

amounts of steroids” before

his arrest.

He wrote that before he

mailed explosives, his idea

“first was how to tone down

the liberal left violence plat-

form.” He wrote that he be-

lieved prominent Demo-

crats were encouraging vi-

olence, saying he had been

attacked personally — in-

cluding as he returned to his

hotel after attending

Trump’s inauguration.

He was living in his van

when arrested in late Octo-

ber.

Explaining his crimes, he

said he was never political

until he was looking at Face-

book on his phone one day

when “Donald J. Trump

popped up.” He likened at-

tending a Trump rally to tak-

ing drugs.

In one letter he wrote: “I

was getting so wrapped up in

this new-found fun drug.”

Man who sent pipe bombs gets 20 years

The Florida body

builder, who targeted

critics of Trump,

blames his excessive

use of steroids.

associated press

A JUDGEsaid Cesar

Sayoc’s bombs were not

designed to explode.

Broward County Sheriff ’s Office