On Tuesday’s “Washington Unplugged,” actor Wilmer Valderrama joined Nancy Cordes to discuss his work with the non-profit organization Voto Latino, co-founded by actress Rosario Dawson. The organization aims to increases voter turnout and political involvement among Hispanic youth. Valderrama and other Hispanic celebrities are meeting with House lawmakers Wednesday, unveiling a new campaign urging Hispanics to take part in the census.

Learn more about Voto Latino’s Be Counted campaign.

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Our co-founder mentions her involvement in the Census PSA and how she started tweeting with Demi Lovato!

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Our very own deputy director Josh Norek has published a piece on why Latinos and immigrants must be counted in the 2010 Census.

Read the full entry at The Huffington Post

Voto Latino Deputy Director Josh Norek

With the 2010 census coming up, workers want often overlooked groups–Latinos and Asian immigrants, young African-American males, the unmarried, the poor and the homeless–to know they have nothng to be afraid of in being counted.

Please read more at: The Roanoke Times

In the past, when the Rev. Miguel Rivera of Ridgefield Park came out publicly in support of [undocumented] immigrants, he could count on widespread support from other national Latino leaders.

Not this time.

As president of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, Rivera, 56, is urging illegal immigrants nationwide to boycott the upcoming U.S. Census unless comprehensive immigration reform is passed before the census count begins in April. But many in Latino circles say the pastor’s call is irresponsible and ultimately damaging to those it purports to help.

Calls for a boycott play on emotions rather than logic, said Josh Norek, deputy director of Voto Latino, which seeks to increase voter turnout and civic partipation by young Latinos.

“It’s a very flawed and misguided message he (Rivera) is putting out there,” Norek said. “He’s taking advantage of the fact that there’s a lot of anger within the Latino community that immigration reform has not been passed. However, the census and immigration reform are two completely separate issues.”

Read the full article at the Newark Star-Ledger.

From a radio booth in east Charlotte, Roberto Belen, a specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau, is  reaching out to listeners of Spanish-language radio. His message to an audience often wary of government: Don’t be afraid to be counted.

Read more at: The Charlotte Observer

Fearing that millions of illegal immigrants may not be counted in the 2010 census, Latino leaders are mobilizing a nationwide drive to urge Latinos to participate in the survey, including an intense push this week in evangelical Christian churches.

Please read more at The New York Times