Centro Presente has joined the historic ya es hora !HAGASE CONTAR!(It’s Time, Make Yourself Count!) Campaign. The coordinated national effort seeks to ensure that every Latino and immigrant in Somerville is fully counted in the 2010 Census. As a partner of the ya es hora, ¡HAGASE CONTAR! Campaign, Centro Presente, will focus on promoting the importance of the Census, inform the community about filling out their Census forms and encourage every household to mail back their form by April 1, 2010. The U.S. Constitution requires all residents of the United States, including immigrants, to participate in the decennial Census. Census statistics determine reapportionment and political representation, and are also used for allocating $440 billion annually in federal funding for scores of social and economic programs that benefit the states and localities.
«Our community deserves its fair share of political representation and resources. To achieve this everyone must be counted in the 2010 Census,» said Patricia Montes, Executive Director, Centro Presente. «As a campaign partner, Centro Presente is committed to a full enumeration in order to help build a better future for our families and community,» she concluded.
This phase of the coalition’s work builds on the success of the ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía! Campaign of 2007, which helped mobilize 1.4 million Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) to apply for U.S. citizenship, and the success of the ya es hora ¡Ve y Vota! Campaign of 2008 which helped motivate a record 9.7 million Latinos to vote in the presidential election.
The ya es hora campaign is the largest and most comprehensive non-partisan effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process. The campaign had a dramatic impact on naturalization rates and spurred record Latino turnout in the 2008 presidential election. For more information, please visit www.yaeshora.info.
