'One million strong': Latinos discuss growing population, voting at annual convention

“One million strong.”

Throughout the Pennsylvania Latino Convention, speakers returned to this key figure. According to the 2020 Census, the commonwealth is home to 1,049,615 Hispanic or Latino residents, an increase of nearly 46% from 2010.

“One million strong. Let’s analyze some numbers,” Jose Rosado said to attendees during lunch on Wednesday. Rosado, former mayor of Fountain Hill and Pennsylvania’s first Latino mayor, said he knew of just one current Latino mayor: Eddie Morán, of the convention’s host city, Reading.

Representation is similarly low or non-existent in other local and state government positions, he said.

“Our children and our community need more leaders — political leaders and educational leaders that will advocate for them,” Rosado said.

Latino representation was explored further during a panel on the census, voting rights and redistricting.

“There is a disconnect there, between our increase in population and the fact that we still have very little representation on the electoral level to effectuate change. It’s disappointing, because redistricting really works to disempower communities,” said Fulvia Vargas-De León, associate counsel at Latino Justice.

Census 2020:Pennsylvania grew by little, remains one of America's least diverse states

She cited Allentown as an example: It’s a majority Latino city, but none of the state legislators who represent it are Latino.

The Hispanic or Latino population grew in nearly every Pennsylvania county between 2010 and 2020, according to the census. But even as it captured that growth, the census probably undercounted the population, panelists said, noting that this will affect elections and the distribution of resources for a decade.

When encouraging Latinos to fill out the census, “The number one thing I hear is, ‘How can you ensure that my identity will not be revealed, that my status will not be revealed?’” Vargas-De León said.

The Trump administration’s effort to include a citizenship question was blocked by the Supreme Court. Still, Latino participation was shaped by fear, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.

New congressional and statehouse districts will be drawn based on this data, and “having immigrants undercounted, having Latinos undercounted, had a direct impact on Pennsylvania losing a congressional seat,” said Fernando Treviño, Pennsylvania state director for the anti-gerrymandering campaign All On The Line.

There’s no changing the census counts now, but panelists encouraged Latinos in Pennsylvania by giving testimony on redistricting and working to increase voter turnout.

“There’s not a single person who’s born knowing how to vote,” said Dwayne Heisler, field director with the statewide council for Service Employees International Union. “The education is really important, but we have to be careful, when we do it, with our messaging. Because we don’t want the message to go out like ‘Oh, you don’t know anything. You don’t know how to vote.’”

Educating people about their rights at the polls is also important, Vargas-De León said. A registered voter who is turned away might say, “‘Well, that person knew the law and they told me the law and I listened,’” she said.

“Why are poll workers telling people they’re not registered to vote? Are you actually looking at both last names?” she said.

Protecting the Latino vote “requires the collaboration between these organizations to maximize the resources, to make sure that we are reaching every single Latino that we can, not just in our communities, right, but in the state and across the nation,” said Thais Carrero, the mid-Atlantic director of civic engagement for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. “It’s going to require people doing different things. It’s going to require people knocking on doors and making sure that people know, one-on-one. It’s going to require some of us going to Congress, going to state legislatures and testifying.”

Kathryne Rubright is a reporter covering the environment, northeast Pa. politics, and local news. She is based at the Pocono Record. Reach her at krubright@gannett.com.