Additional Coverage:
- 4 states sue to block illegal migrants from census count used to assign congressional seats, electoral votes (foxnews.com)
Four states are challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s practice of counting undocumented immigrants when apportioning congressional seats and electoral votes. The lawsuit, filed by the attorneys general of Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, and West Virginia, claims this practice is unconstitutional and cost Ohio and West Virginia each a seat in Congress and an electoral vote after the 2020 census.
The suit alleges that Texas gained a seat and an electoral vote, while California retained one it would have otherwise lost, due to their larger populations of undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders. The attorneys general fear Louisiana and Kansas may face similar losses in the 2030 reapportionment.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill argues that states shouldn’t lose congressional representation due to the presence of undocumented immigrants in other states. She maintains that including them in the census for apportionment purposes is illegal.
The lawsuit centers on the Census Bureau’s “Residence Rule,” which counts all foreign nationals residing in the U.S., regardless of legal status. The attorneys general argue this violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal representation principle and Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution regarding the distribution of electoral votes.
They contend the “Residence Rule” unfairly shifts political power to states with higher numbers of undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders. The lawsuit also claims the rule breaches the constitutional mandate for an “actual enumeration” of persons, which historically included only citizens and legal permanent residents.
The attorneys general emphasize that the substantial undocumented immigrant population, estimated at 11.7 million, is concentrated in a small number of states, significantly impacting the distribution of congressional seats and electoral votes. They cite this as evidence of the unfair advantage given to certain states due to the current census practices.