LAREDO, Texas (AP) _ U.S. Census Director Robert Groves is trying to reassure immigrants that taking part in the decennial head count won’t lead to being deported.
Groves visited an impoverished colonia Monday in Laredo, among the most nation’s most difficult places for census workers to survey. Many residents fear talking to government workers because of their immigration status.
Groves told a small gathering of colonia residents that he couldn’t share their household survey with anyone.
But the Census Bureau has plenty of work ahead. Groves arrived in a small convoy that included several police cars and large white vans. One resident it was just the kind of sight that causes some residents to hide.