C.H.I.P.
Coalition for
Hispanic / Latino
Issues and Progress
PO Box 614
Lorain, OH 44052-0641
Phone (440) 371-2551

 

 C.H.I.P.

The Coalition for Hispanic / Latino Issues and Progress
Seeks to Advance and Promote the Hispanic / Latino
Culture and Community. Get Involved and
Become a Member!

Preservar y Promover la Cultura y la
Communidad Hispana / Latina
Envuelvase y Hagase Meimbro

 

 

 

Census

Concerned about privacy and security?  Here is information from the US Census Bureau about the form that will be mailed to your house in March:  http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php

 

Here is the Census Bureau Schedule for 2010.

March:  Census forms are mailed or delivered to households

April:  National Census Day—use this day as a point of reference for sending your completed forms back in the mail

April – July:  Census takers visit households that did not return a form by mail

December:  By law, the Census Bureau delivers population information to the President for apportionment

 

The Better Business Bureau has published 2010 Census Tips for the Public (http://knoxville.bbb.org/article/better-business-bureau-2010-census-tips-for-the-public-14033).  Here are their recommendations on “How to Identify a Census Field Representative”.

If a U.S. Census Bureau employee knocks on your door, here are some recognition tips to assure the validity of the field representative:

1. The field representative must present an ID badge that contains: photograph of the field representative, Department of Commerce watermark, and expiration date.

2. The field representative will provide you with supervisor contact information and/or the Regional Office phone number for verification, if asked.

3. The field representative will provide you with a letter from the Census Bureau Director on official letterhead.

4. The field representative may be carrying a laptop and/or bag with a Census Bureau logo.

What the 2010 Census DOES NOT Ask

Field representatives will never ask you for your social security number, bank account number, or credit card number. Census workers also never solicit for donations and will never contact you by email.

The Census is Safe

1. The 2010 Census will ask for name, gender, age, race, ethnicity, relationship, and whether you own or rent your home – just 10 simple questions that will take about 10 minutes to answer.

2. Your answers are protected by law and are not shared with anyone.

3. The Census Bureau safeguards all census responses to the highest security standards available.

 

Puerto Rican Birth Certificates

For any of us born in the Island del Encanto.

Puerto Ricans will need new birth certificates
(UPI) Starting July 1, 2010, Puerto Ricans born on the island will need to apply for new birth certificates for any official transactions requiring that document, such as requesting drivers licenses or getting new passports.

The older birth certificates that have been issued in Puerto Rico will be invalidated as of that date, as the government moves to implement security measures to avoid identity theft and U.S. immigration fraud.

The birth certificates of Puerto Ricans are desirable to many from elsewhere in Latin America who seek to pass themselves off as Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens. Those birth certificates were selling for $5,000 to $10,000 and accounted for 40 percent of birth certificate fraud in the United States, said Puerto Rico Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock.


Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, Acting Health Department Secretary Concepción Quiñones de Longo, and Population Registry Director, Wanda Llovet
address the PRESS.

In addition to the new documents, which will have security markings to prevent fraud, Puerto Rico now bans for anyone other than the person named in the certificate from keeping an original certificate.

“We had a bad habit through the decades that people had to give their original birth certificates in order to register for day care, for elementary school, for middle school, for high school or college, even to enter little league or sign up to a ballet class or register in summer camp, and as a consequence we had thousands of student records containing birth certificates that remain valid,” said McClintock.

Many of those certificates were being stolen and sold in the black market, McClintock said.

“This change will benefit Puerto Ricans; first, because we are taking steps to protect their identity and, second, because instead of getting 20 copies of your birth certificates at $5 each, now they will be able to obtain one and, if it’s well-cared for, it could be good to show for any of those transactions.”

The changes were made, McClintock said, after the federal government approached island officials to tell them of growing fraud and identity theft with those documents. There had also been incidents of burglars breaking into island schools to steal birth certificates.

After July 1, Puerto Ricans will still be able to apply for new birth certificates by mail and the cost will remain at $5 each.

The SCOOP outta HORSE'S MOUTH ...
—"Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, Acting Health Department Secretary Concepción Quiñones de Longo, and Population Registry Director, Wanda Llovet, announced Friday that starting July 1, all Puerto Ricans born on the island must have new birth certificates.

The new law, which was signed by Gov. Fortuño on Dec. 22, has the aim of preventing identity theft, McClintock said in a press conference.
The Secretary of State said that “Law 191 of 2009, signed last Dec. 22 and as explained by the governor in a press conference at that time, responds to the crisis of identity fraud created by the old practice in Puerto Rico of seeking, retaining and archiving original birth certificates for a multitude of events in the lives of Puerto Ricans.”

“As a result of this ancient practice, there are hundreds of thousands of archived original birth certificates without any protection, in all manner of public and private places, from archives without keys or protection in the registration of an elementary school, even a cardboard box where a Little League coach saved his files for 30 years,” McClintock said.
He noted that 40 percent of all identity theft cases involving birth certificates in the United States, originate from Puerto Rico.

“As a result, the procedures for issuing passports, licenses and other documents when submitting a birth certificate takes longer [in Puerto Rico] than with birth certificates from other jurisdictions. This old practice has turned our schools and other institutions into targets for thieves who seek to sell stolen certificates for between $5,000 and $10,000 each on the black market,” he said

Under the new law the retention and archiving of birth certificates is now prohibited. As of July 1, every Puerto Rican born on the island needs to obtain new birth certificates, which will have an indefinite validity period."—

FACTS:
Puerto Rican-born citizens living in the United States will now have to request a new copy of their birth certificates.

The country’s Gov. Luis Fortuño signed a law making all old birth certificates processed prior to December 2009 not valid in any federal agency.

A transition period will be in effect until July 1. The new law is an effort to reduce all fraud cases reported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the past year.

According to the governmental agency, a Puerto Rican birth certificate runs for about $5,000 to $10,000 on the black market.

Puerto Ricans born on the island receive an American Social Security number and are eligible for a United States passport from birth.

For more information, call (787) 767-9120 ext. 2402 or visit their Web site.
http://www.salud.gov.pr/Pages/default.aspx

MORE INFO: http://www.prfaa.com/news/?p=725#more-725

SEE VIDEO http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/114011/puerto-rican-born-new-yorkers-have-to-get-new-birth-certificates