Census boss in Laredo to push reporting

Groves will visit neighborhoods near Laredo to encourage residents to respond to census questionnaires.

“We care deeply about reaching these communities with the message that responding to the census is easy, important and, most of all, entirely safe,” Groves said.

The census is used by the federal government to establish formulas to distribute funds for various programs. An audit of the 2000 census found that 373,567 Texans were not counted — 1.76 percent of the state's population.

Residents of unincorporated border-area subdivisions known as colonias made up much of the undercount, the Census Bureau has concluded.

“I want to make sure Texas gets counted,” said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who asked Groves to tour the border region to see firsthand the challenges that census workers face.

Cuellar said he would discuss a media campaign in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley to urge residents to participate.

The census plans to air public service announcements in English- and Spanish-language media nationwide urging Hispanic residents to take part. Extra efforts are expected along the U.S.-Mexico border.

A census map of undercounted areas in 2000 includes the entire border region, from Brownsville to San Diego, Calif., Cuellar said.

Juan Vargas, Webb County's economic development director, said border counties, where most of the colonias are located, suffered substantial losses in federal funds.