Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — With the 2010 census six months away, the Commerce Department said Thursday it won’t seek a halt to immigration raids as it did in the previous census in hopes of improving participation in hard-to-count communities.
In a statement, the department said it is committed to an accurate count of U.S. residents, including both legal and illegal immigrants. Spokesman Nick Kimball said officials will not ask the Homeland Security Department to stop large-scale immigration raids during the high stakes count that begins April 1.
That position is a departure from the one taken in the 2000 census, when immigration officials at the request of the Census Bureau informally agreed not to conduct raids.
