Ethnic influx fuels valley boom

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 11:17 a.m.

A huge increase in Hispanic and Asian migration to Southern Nevada has helped swell the entire population here, Census Bureau numbers released Tuesday show.

The numbers, based on last year's door-to-door and mail-in census count, show that Clark County had the biggest percentage increase in population in the state -- at 86 percent -- and by a wide margin the largest total population increase.

In the decade since the 1990 Census, the county population almost doubled, to a total of 1.38 million. The state population was just shy of 2 million, an increase of more than 66 percent since the 1990 Census.

While the numbers released Tuesday further document the belt-busting pace of growth in Nevada and Clark County, they also include the first detailed breakdowns by ethnic background. The size of the increase in the people with Hispanic and Asian backgrounds surprised even some seasoned observers.

In Clark County, the number of Hispanics grew from 83,000 in 1990 to 302,000 last year, a 264 percent increase.

"I'm just blown away," said Thomas Rodriguez, executive manager for diversity and affirmative action programs at the Clark County School District. "I don't think anyone could have predicted that."

Census Bureau officials said the rate outpaced previous projections of Hispanic population growth because of the accuracy of the 2000 count -- improvements they chalked up to better community relations and a promotional effort that brought in community leaders.

Immigration also has been a wild card for the census estimates over the last decade, said Roberto Ramirez, a researcher with the Ethnic and Hispanic Statistics Branch in the bureau's Washington, D.C., offices.

"We really don't have a good way to track how many people enter or leave the country," he said.

But one thing is clear: "Diversity in Nevada is increasing."

The number of Hispanics statewide grew from about 124,000 in 1990 to nearly 394,000 last year, a 217 percent increase.

Other ethnic groups increased their representation faster than the overall white population, which grew by 63 percent to a total of 985,000 in the county and 66 percent to just over 1.5 million statewide.

Statewide, the number of people with a background in Asia grew from 33,000 in 1990 to 112,000 last year, including people that count more than one race in their background. In Clark County, the number of Asians or Pacific islanders grew from 26,000 to 79,000, an increase of over 200 percent.

"This is wonderful," said Rozita Lee, chairwoman of the Asian-Pacific Forum, a Las Vegas group that brings together people from a half-dozen national origins to discuss community problems and solutions.

"It means that we have to work even harder to use the numbers that we have for our community," she said.

Lee said the population growth for all ethnic groups will increase those groups' self-esteem. For Asians and Pacific islanders, that means working to support programs easing transition into the entire community, she said.

One focus of that effort has been in the schools, where English-instruction programs remain a priority, Lee said.

The Asian community has a political issue on the table in Northern Nevada, where developers are proposing to build over historic Chinese cemeteries. Lee said the increased numbers will give the community more confidence in working with the Legislature to protect their heritage.

In the long term, the increases in the Asian and Pacific islander population could mean significant political realignments. If that rate of population increase holds true over the next decade, those claiming Asian and Pacific island heritage will at least equal the number of blacks in Clark County by the next census in 2010.

But the black population of Clark County also grew faster than the white population, growing to 125,000 people in 2000, a 76 percent increase over 1990.

Even Jeff Hardcastle, Nevada's state demographer, underestimated the number of Hispanics and Asians that are flocking to the state.

Hardcastle's most recent estimate was that the Hispanic population would make up just under 18 percent of the statewide population. Instead, the official Census Bureau number was just under 20 percent of the total population.

Hardcastle said he had estimated that Asian would make up about 4.4 percent of the total state population, but instead clocked in at 4.8 percent.

Hardcastle said he wasn't blown away by the differences, but they were still statistically significant.

Hispanic activists in the Las Vegas area said the challenge will be to convert the growing numbers into political punch.

"I think we are the future," said Otto Merida, executive director of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, a local organization that represents hundreds of local Hispanic businesses. "People have to be aware that as we get bigger numbers, we will demand more and more in the community.

"At the same time, we have to work in the political process in order for all these numbers to mean something," Merida said.

"I'm just wondering if Nevada and Clark County is ready for it," mused Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, a county political organization. "The majority of the population is just not paying attention to this ever-increasing minority group."

He said the problem is not just with the white population. The message that Hispanics have real, substantive power at the ballot box hasn't reached many in that community, Romero said.

"I don't know if the Hispanic community has really reached the realization of the political power that we have," he said. "We are now a force to contend with from shear numbers."

Romero and other Hispanic activists bitterly recall the fight last year when the Las Vegas City Council added two seats. They had hoped to have at least one Hispanic added to the board, which now has none.

They didn't get one of the new seats, and Rodriguez, from the school district, said that has to change.

"One of our problems is a lack of political representation," he said. Although many Hispanics are registered to vote and could influence or decide elections, "the problem is there's really been no coordinated way to reach these individuals."

The community needs to get behind Hispanic candidates as a block, Rodriguez said.

"Where are the Hispanic candidates?" he asked. "You see them file (for office) every year, and they never get there, because there is no coordinated Hispanic political group."

Rodriguez said Hispanics have some very serious issues that need to be addressed, but often aren't. They include above average rates teen pregnancy and school problems, including drop outs.

Teri DeLaTorre-Azeman, executive director of the Nevada Association of Latin Americans, agrees. She said 47 percent of the Hispanics in Clark County belong to low-income households.

"That definitely impacts all the service agencies in town," DeLaTorre-Azeman said. "It has a lot of implication for the community."

But many Hispanics, especially those who do not read in Spanish or English, find themselves with no agency to turn to for assistance.

DeLaTorre-Azeman said some of the biggest needs in the Hispanic community are for child care, food pantries, classes in English and reading. She said her organization will is beginning an aggressive outreach program that, she hopes, will increase the community's political clout.

DeLaTorre-Azeman said the effort to increase the responsiveness to the Hispanic community needs to bring in allies for other ethnic groups, including the Asian American community.

Romero, the Hispanic political activist, agrees.

"We have to coalesce," he said. "It is very obvious that on our own, the establishment is not going to pay attention, or at least is not going to do anything for us.

"Asians, African-Americans and Hispanics have got to get together in an effort to really make this community reflect its diversity."

Political activists have an opportunity right now to make an impact. Because of the growth in the state population documented by the census, Nevada will get another representative in the U.S. Congress.

The Nevada Legislature also has to draw that new district and also has to provide representation in the State Senate, Assembly, and Board of Regents and state Board of Education.

Robert Erickson, research director for the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said minority groups might have a tough time translating their increased numbers into representation in federal or state offices.

That is because the migration of minorities into the state has generally been diverse, he said. Although Clark County has gotten most of the increase, the county also has attracted by far the biggest share of the population growth overall.

In some cities around the country, minorities might be concentrated in one or two areas, Erickson said, but not in Nevada.

But Nevada has one other area in which it excels in diversity, Erickson pointed out.

The percentage of people claiming more than one race in their background is 3.8 percent statewide, and 4.2 percent in Clark County.

The national average for those claiming more than one race, a new category used for the first time by the census last year, is just 2.4 percent.

Erickson said the rates for Nevada and Clark County is the highest found in the 15 states for which the Census Bureau has released detailed data.

The trend is likely to continue or increase as Nevada becomes even more ethnically diverse, said Ramirez at the Census Bureau.

Erickson said the statistic indicates people from different backgrounds seem to get along well in Nevada.

"It's a positive thing to say about our state," he said.

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