census: new york city's asian american population grew by 32%

Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau released detailed data from the 2010 census for the state of New York. The Bureau reported an all time high of 1,579,494 Asian Americans in the state; and 1,038,388 in New York City -- 13% of the city's population. The Bureau also found that Asian Americans were the state's fastest growing minority group, with a growth rate of 35.9%.

However, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund points out that the numbers might have actually been higher had there not been so many problems in the Census Burea's operations and outreach to Asian Americans.

The 2010 census reported unusual minimal growth in Queens County, with a population increase of less than 2,000 people. AALDEF monitored the Census Bureau's outreach efforts to Asian Americans in Queens and reported a number of problems to the Census Director last April:

Mistranslations of Census Materials Confused Respondents. TheKorean Be Counted Questionnaire form erroneously translated "county" as "nation." On Vietnamese forms, the translation of "census" carried the connotation of a "communist government investigation."

Poorly Staffed Telephone Questionnaire Assistance (TQA) Centers. Census respondents were supposed to be able to receive assistance through the multilingual TQA hotlines. However, Korean and Vietnamese TQA operators were unable to answer basic questions about the Census. One Korean operator even had to transfer the call to his supervisor who only spoke English.

Difficulty in Accessing Census Forms. AALDEF received complaints from individuals in Flushing, Richmond Hill, and Jackson Heights, in Queens, NY that they did not receive their census forms in the mail. Community-based organizations complained that obtaining blank forms was cumbersome.

Poorly Managed Local Census Offices. In Richmond Hill, a hard-working Indo-Caribbean recruitment assistant for census takers was reassigned to another location in a white neighborhood for complaining about delays in delivering blank census forms.

Curtailment in Providing Assistance with Census Forms. Community organizations and service providers typically assist their clients with completing many government forms and other legal documents. However, census officials discouraged them from helping their clients to complete census forms.

More detailed assurances about confidentiality needed. Despite the Census Bureau's numerous statements about the confidentiality of census data, community groups did not receive adequate assurances. They sought, but never received, a legal opinion from the Attorney General that the USA Patriot Act did not compromise confidentiality.

Here's the rest of AALDEF's press release: Census Outreach Problems Last Year May Explain Asian American Undercount in Queens, NY. Definitely areas that need to be addressed. Still, overall, that's a significant population increase for Asian Americans in New York City.

Here's the real question now: as 13% of the population, do Asian Americans wield a comparable level of influence? Do Asian Americans receive the resources to meet our community's needs? More here (PDF): Asian Community A Driving Force For Growth in New York City, According to New 2010 Census Data.