It is good news that the U.S. Senate has finally confirmed Robert M. Groves as Director of the United States Census Bureau, even though there are only only nine months to go before the 2010 Census gets underway. But even with the leadership of Groves, an expert in statistics and sociology, and the work of the Census Bureau’s experienced professionals, this every-ten-years national headcount could well be one of the hardest ever to do with precision. There are challenges aplenty.

In the first place, it is common knowledge that low-income populations are the hardest to count, whether because of their mobility (or instability, as we might also say) or their hesitance in providing information to authorities. The prior census is estimated to have undercounted African Americans and Latinos by some four million people. This undercounting affects apportionment of government funds and allocation of power through electoral districts. The hard-to-count populations also include unauthorized or undocumented immigrants who, for fear of contact with governmental agencies and being identified, tend to avoid taking part in the Census. The law requires the federal government to count every person who resides in this country, but the status quo of immigration law in this country will make it harder than ever.

In both of the two previous Censuses, in 1990 and 2000, immigration authorities suspended all raids to let the undocumentedtake part in the headcount in peace and without fear. Even so, there was concern within the community about what would be done with the information given to the government, leading many to avoid being counted. It will be much harder to suspend actions against unauthorized immigrants this year, because now they are enforced not just by federal agents (the INS back then, now the ICE), but thanks to the 287g programs, they are now also carried out by law enforcement agencies all across the country. How can they be sure there will be no raids or mass arrests during the Census, when these operations are in the hands of authorities like Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona? The federal government will have to guarantee that all such repressive actions against the undocumented are suspended, because undercounting them will affect not only them but also the local and state governments where they live.