President Trump’s request for the Census Bureau to produce a 2020 count that doesn’t include illegal aliens is illegal, a panel of federal judges ruled recently, delivering another loss to the administration’s attempts to accurately count the number of illegal aliens present in the United States by means of the census.
The judges unanimously declared Pres. Trump’s July 21 directive unlawful, saying they hoped such a statement would also help alleviate supposed fears that aliens might decline to respond to the census.
Pres. Trump had directed the census to produce its normal count of all residents, as the constitution mandates, but also requested the bureau produce another count excluding aliens illegally present in the United States. That count, he said, should be used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. The judges stated that Congress has written laws the protect itself from losing seats by stating apportionment should be based on the total number of “persons.”
It’s the second setback for Pres. Trump when it comes to creating an accurate citizen count, who last year saw his bid to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census denied by the Supreme Court, who ruled he didn’t check all the right procedural boxes. Not that adding such a question was blatantly unconstitutional.
Many argue that allowing those in the country illegally to be used as part of the count doling out House seats gives more political power to illegal alien-friendly states, at the expense of others, which is true.
According to the Washington Times:
The Center for Immigration Studies, for example, calculates that three seats would shift if the estimated 11 million illegal aliens were excluded. If illegal aliens were removed from the count, California, Texas and New York each would each lose a seat. Ohio, Alabama and Minnesota each would gain a seat.
As it pertains to this case, two of the judges were appointed by President George W. Bush and one by President Obama.
The decision bans the Commerce secretary from even providing Pres. Trump anything but the full count. Strangely, the panel did say the Census Bureau can still study if and how it would go about trying to produce the second count. This means that if the Supreme Court overrules this decision, there is enough time for the bureau to meet Pres. Trump’s demand, the judges said.
For the complete story, please visit The Washington Times.
