A Struggle Over Numbers: Legal Status in the Census, Hispanic Political Representation, and Federal Funding, 1970–1986

Abstract The 1980 census signaled the emergence of a US Latino constituency and a new phase in the national immigration debate. Following a decade of pressure from Latino advocates and officials, the Bureau of the Census introduced a question asking Americans if they were of “Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent.” To bring political representation and federal resources to their communities, Latino leaders campaigned to convince their co-ethnics, regardless of their citizenship and legal status, to answer yes. The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a new immigration restriction group, pushed back, claiming that a census that included undocumented immigrants “diluted” the rights of citizens. Drawing on congressional, presidential, and executive agency sources, as well as FAIR records, this essay explores how the census required that US Latinos seeking to exercise their citizenship rights fashion new hierarchical partnerships with undocumented immigrants. It reveals how FAIR used the participation of both Hispanics and non-citizens in the census to build support for immigration restriction, even in places with negligible Latino populations. It also demonstrates how the clash between these two forces shaped the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and set the stage for a struggle over immigrant political influence that continues to this day.