Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a lawsuit challenging the inclusion of illegal aliens in census apportionment, arguing the practice unlawfully distorts congressional representation and electoral votes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway on Friday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the U.S. Census Bureau from counting illegal aliens in the decennial census and is calling for a full census recount, marking what her office described as the first legal challenge of its kind by a state.
In announcing the lawsuit, Hanaway said Missouri is suing the Census Bureau for what she described as an unconstitutional policy that allows illegal aliens to influence congressional representation and presidential elections. In a public statement, she argued that the current census methodology undermines the principle of representation for U.S. citizens and shifts political power away from states that enforce immigration law.
“United States citizens have a right to representation, NOT illegal aliens,” Hanaway said in a statement posted publicly, adding that Missouri is suing the Census Bureau for “unconstitutionally allowing illegal aliens to commandeer the path to the White House and compromise the nation’s elections,” as outlined in a post shared here.
Hanaway said Missouri and its voters can no longer ignore what she characterized as the ongoing denial of their right to self-government and fair representation under the current census system.
In a detailed explanation released by her office, Hanaway said the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau’s policy of counting illegal aliens in census tabulations is “unjust, unlawful, and unconstitutional,” and she is asking the court to prohibit the inclusion of illegal aliens and order a census recount, according to her statement.
The lawsuit argues that counting illegal aliens transfers federal representation and funding from states that enforce immigration laws to sanctuary states that, in Hanaway’s words, “artificially inflate their population by harboring illegal aliens.” The filing specifically names states such as California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland, asserting that they collectively gain an estimated 11 congressional seats, 11 electoral votes, and billions of dollars in funding under the current system.
Hanaway’s office also pointed to historical precedent, noting that prior to the 1980 census, the Carter administration adopted a policy counting illegal aliens and temporary visa holders in census apportionment. The lawsuit contends that the framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment would not have envisioned a system in which millions of illegal aliens are counted for purposes of congressional representation and the Electoral College.
The filing further cites actions taken during President Donald Trump’s first term. In July 2020, Trump issued a memorandum directing the secretary of commerce to exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment base, even though they were counted in the raw census data. That action was challenged in court by states including California and New York. While the Supreme Court ultimately vacated lower court injunctions, Hanaway said legal delays allowed the Biden administration to reverse course and include illegal aliens in the apportionment count.
According to the lawsuit, had Trump’s policy been implemented for the 2021 apportionment, Missouri would have gained an additional congressional seat and an extra Electoral College vote. Instead, Hanaway argues, the Biden administration’s reversal resulted in Missouri losing representation and associated funding.
Hanaway reiterated those claims in an interview Friday, saying the implications extend beyond Missouri. Speaking on a national radio program, she said, “If we win, not only will 11 House seats be reallocated from places like California to places like Missouri, but with those House seats also go electoral votes,” as captured in remarks shared here.
The lawsuit asks the court to halt the current census methodology and order corrective action, a move that could have wide-ranging consequences for congressional representation, Electoral College allocations, and federal funding formulas if successful.
Original article
Comments