Judicial Watch has gotten involved in a lawsuit brought by Louisiana to prevent the inclusion of illegal aliens in the census count for purposes of apportioning seats in the House of Representatives. I doubt the courts are the way to go; previous lawsuits have been thrown out for lack of standing, though how a state that will lose (or fail to gain) a House seat due to the inclusion of illegals in the count doesn’t have standing is beyond me.
In any case, if we’re going to exclude illegals from the 2020 census count used for apportionment (not from the census altogether), Congress needs to start acting now. By the time the census approaches, all important decisions will already have been made. It seems to me that the plain language of the 14th Amendment bases apportionment on the “whole number of persons in each state,” so further amendment would be required. My own preference would be to exclude non-citizens in general, not just illegal aliens, from the count for apportionment. It’s easier to do (you just ask “Are you a citizen of the United States?” — and if we purge the obnoxious race/ethnicity questions, there’ll be plenty of room on the form) and it’s more defensible, since it’s the Congress of the United States we’re talking about, and if you’re not a citizen of the United States, whatever your particular status might be, it’s not your Congress.
I doubt that states with high levels of illegal immigrants would agree to an amendment that excludes them from the count entirely. But if this gets out in the public debate, maybe some sort of compromise could be reached.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou, sir, are worse than Hitler!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou, sir, are either ignorant, stupid or a phoney. Yes, calling someone a racist, worse than Hitler, etc., etc. is what the vacuous leftist resorts to when he has no rational argument.
I can recommend a number of good history books which might go a way to filling the obvious void in your knowledge, but perhaps not your brain.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMark, slaves and indentured servants were not citizens, and the Constitution required that they be counted in the Census (slaves as 3/5 of a whole number, and indentured servants as a whole number). So excluding permanent residents of the U.S. (all of whom are subject to U.S. taxes) from the Census count makes no sense, either with regard to history or fairness.
That being said, given that the Census is supposed to measure the persons residing in the several states, it makes perfect sense to include only persons who are legal, permanent residents of each state. For example, no one would claim that the Census has to count all of the foreign tourists visiting Walt Disney World as residents of Buena Vista Township, Florida. By the same token, I do not believe that persons who are not legal permanent residents of the U.S.--either because they are residing here illegally or under a temporary visa--should be deemed to be a resident of the U.S. for purposes of the Census.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn addition:
1. Stop outreach to count illegals.
2. Simply ask legality status on the form, with either an implicit or explicit threat (or just non-denial) to use the form for deportations. It will probably scare off illegals from answering. We shouldn't care.
3. My favorite: The Constitution says that "Indians not taxed" are not counted. Well, lots- maybe most- of the Latino illegals are Native Americans. Heck, expand the definition to include Asia too ("the Indies"). Obviously, illegals aren't taxed. So don't count them.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMr. Krikorian, with all due respect, I don't believe you're reading the constitutional provision in its entirety, or with proper context.
For example, there is a wealth of history behind the "Indians not taxed" clause which indicates that Indians weren't enumerated not because they were Indians, but because they weren't eligible to be capitated under the then tax system. The reason they weren't taxed is because they were not part of the body politic (or, our own sovereignty). In effect: there were no "Indians not taxed." There were merely a group of people, neither taxed nor enumerated, who just happened to be Indians.
Therefore, any other group who is statutorily unable to join our body politic (such as aliens unable to get a job via legislation), should be constitutionally discounted from enumeration for the purposes of apportionment.
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