The attorneys general of Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, and West Virginia have filed a lawsuit to prevent the U.S. Census Bureau from including illegal immigrants in the tallies used to allocate congressional seats and electoral votes. There is.
A lawsuit filed in a federal court in Louisiana on Sunday, the day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, says the Biden administration is trying to allocate Congressional seats and electoral votes by excluding illegal immigrants from being counted in the 2020 Census. It claims that it has decided to include it in part. As a result, Ohio and West Virginia are said to have lost House seats and electoral votes, respectively, to other states with large numbers of illegal immigrants and temporary visa holders.
Texas gained one House seat and one electoral vote, and California retained a House seat and electoral vote that it “would have otherwise lost,” the complaint says.
The attorneys general argue that if this practice continues, Louisiana and Kansas are likely to lose congressional seats and electors, respectively, in the 2030 reapportionment.
President Trump signs order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement that “no state should lose representation in Congress because of the presence of illegal aliens harbored in other states.” “It is illegal to count illegal aliens in the census to determine Congressional seats and the number of electors. We filed a lawsuit to stop it.”
Migrants wait for CBP One appointments before crossing the El Chaparral border port in Tijuana, Mexico, on January 20, 2025. The Trump administration shut down the CBP One app. (Carlos Moreno/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In February 2018, the U.S. Census Bureau developed standards for the 2020 Census called the “Residency Rule,” which states that an alien residing in the United States will be counted in the census in the state in which the person’s “usual residence” is located. said that it would be assigned to The complaint points out whether these aliens are legally present in the United States and “regardless of whether the visas they hold are temporary or not.” I am doing it.
The complaint alleges that after the 2020 Census, former President Biden’s Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the Census Bureau and its director, Robert Santos ) to be included in the census numbers used to determine the distribution of votes in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. ”
The complaint states that the residency rule “deprives the citizens of plaintiff states of their legitimate share of political representation while systematically redistributing political power to states with large numbers of illegal aliens and nonimmigrant aliens.” It is said that this violates the principle of equal representation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution “requires an unconstitutional apportionment of electoral votes among the states.”
President Trump sends troops to border, ends President Biden’s parole policy with successive executive orders from day one
President Trump will deliver his second presidential inaugural address on January 20, 2024. (FOX News)
“The residency rule also violates the federal government’s constitutional obligation to ‘actually count’ the number of people in each state,” the complaint states. During the Reconstruction era, participation in constitutionally constituted political organizations was limited to U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens who were legally permitted to participate in political organizations. ”
Additionally, “aliens who are in the United States illegally or temporarily were ineligible because they lack political representation. Diplomats who were in the United States temporarily were also ineligible for a long time. “I was understood,” he continued.
“But in any case, the Fourteenth Amendment separately requires that illegal aliens who are denied the right to vote be excluded from state apportionments,” the complaint states. “Accordingly, the actual count of each state’s population cannot include such aliens. It can only include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (“LPRs”, also known as “green card holders”). known) only. ”
People wait for CBP One reservations before crossing the El Chaparral border port in Tijuana, Mexico, on January 20, 2025. The Trump administration shut down the CBP One app for immigrants. (Carlos Moreno/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The attorneys general argue that illegal immigration “impacts the distribution of seats in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College because their populations are large and highly concentrated in a small number of states.”
The complaint goes on to summarize research that suggests there are approximately 11.7 million illegal immigrants in the United States, and says that over the past three decades, the United States has been “subjected to the largest wave of immigration in U.S. history.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Counting illegal aliens in the census deprives some Americans of the right to vote and gives it to others,” the complaint says.
President Trump has promised mass deportations and declared a state of emergency at the southern border on his first day in office. It is unclear what impact this lawsuit will have on the incoming Trump administration.
Daniel Wallace is a breaking news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and X: @danimwallace.
Source link
