President Trump issued a presidential memorandum Tuesday that would exclude illegal immigrants from the 2020 Census. This move will ensure congressional representation is not impacted by non-citizens who are not even supposed to be here...
The administration made a strong case for the necessity of this action in the memorandum.
“Excluding these
illegal aliens from the apportionment base is more consonant with the principles of representative democracy underpinning our system of Government,” says the memorandum. “Increasing congressional representation based on the presence of aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status would also create perverse incentives encouraging violations of Federal law. States adopting policies that encourage illegal aliens to enter this country and that hobble Federal efforts to enforce the immigration laws passed by the Congress should not be rewarded with greater representation in the House of Representatives.”
The memorandum also mentions an unnamed state (California) hosting 2.2 million illegal aliens. If counted in the census, it would give that state at least two congressional seats it shouldn’t have.
Gavin Newsom Rages at Trump Discounting Illegal Aliens for States’ Representation, Breitbart, July 21, 2020:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday decried President Donald Trump’s executive order which will exclude Illegal aliens from being counted for purposes of congressional apportioning....
President Trump Was Absolutely Correct to Exclude Illegal Aliens from Apportionment, Kris Kobach, Breitbart, July 22, 2020:
In recent decades, illegal aliens have been counted along with U.S. citizens and lawful permanent resident aliens in the apportionment of congressional seats. President Trump is seeking to bring that to an end. Doubtless the ACLU and other progressives will fight to stop him in court. But he is on strong legal ground. And the country will be better off, for three reasons.
1. The Constitution requires it. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment spells out how apportionment is to occur. “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed.” The reference to the “whole number of persons” was to make clear that, in addition to males of voting age, it also included women and children, both of which could not vote at that time, as well as all racial groups....
Illegal aliens, by definition, have no right to be considered inhabitants of any state. Federal law declares that they must be removed from the country. Clearly, merely being physically present in the country for some period of time does not entitle one to be counted in congressional apportionment. Just as temporary visitors vacationing in the United States are not counted, so too, illegal aliens cannot be counted....
2. States that welcome illegal immigration should not be rewarded. When illegal aliens are counted, states like California receive additional representatives in Congress, at the expense of other states....
If California or New York gain a seat in the House of Representatives because illegal aliens are counted, then some other state loses a seat. So those states that encourage respect for the law and do not harbor illegal aliens are punished. This is unfair, and it undermines the rule of law....
3. Counting illegal aliens violates the principle of one person, one vote....
President Trump’s case for excluding illegal aliens from the Census is stronger than you think, Ronald Romano, Daily Torch, July 22, 2020.
Colorado joins lawsuit against Trump for trying to leave some aliens out of the Census count, Denver Post, July 24, 2020.
