Alabama has filed an unprecedented but little-noticed lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau. If the state wins, it could have major political ramifications and restore fundamental fairness in political representation in Congress.
Alabama is arguing that by including illegal immigrants in its count of the population, the Census Bureau deprives the state – and other states with low numbers of illegal immigrants – of representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as votes in the Electoral College that determine who is elected president.
Conversely, the lawsuit argues, the practice of counting illegal immigrants in the census gives states that protect them (California, for example) seats and votes they are not entitled to have.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution provides that representatives in the House “shall be apportioned among the several States … according to their respective Numbers,” with the “Numbers” determined by “counting the whole number of persons in each State.”
After every census, House seats are reapportioned according to the population of each state. Electoral College votes are reapportioned according to the number of each state’s congressional representatives.
Alabama is right about the unfairness of the current system. Illegal immigrants, by definition, have no right to be in this country. It is unjust to allow states to gain a political advantage over other states by flouting federal immigration law.
More here
[Related: 17 states (Including MD, DE and VA) and 7 cities file lawsuit challenging 2020 Census citizenship questions ]
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2 comments:
I feel that in this case, A "whole person" would imply a true citizen and not an alien who has no rights by virtue of being just that, an alien. The electoral college and House of Reps should only be based on citizenry and not total population. Of course States like CA and NY and the "The Peoples Republic of MD", et al. will want all people to be counted equally because it allows them to tip the scales of power. Our so called leaders have lost their minds and seem to only care about their political parties and not their constituents.
Just my two cents.
They should be counting the whole number of CITIZENS in each state.
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