Thursday, February 18, 2010
Another census, another debate about illegal immigrants. Every 10 years the federal government counts how many people are living in the United States, including those who entered the country illegally. But advocates for a government crackdown on illegal aliens are pushing for changes in law that would keep the U.S. Census Bureau from counting such individuals, so that these figures don’t affect the reapportionment process that redraws congressional districts.
Two bills have been introduced in Congress to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the census. The Fairness in Representation Act would amend current federal law to meet this goal, while House Joint Resolution 111 would amend the U.S. Constitution “so that only U.S. citizens would be counted in the apportionment calculation,” according to a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
CRS analysts say changing federal law would not be sufficient, and that a constitutional amendment would be required to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Constitutionality of Excluding Aliens from the Census for Apportionment and Redistricting Purposes (by Margaret Mikyung Lee and Erika K. Lunder, Congressional Research Service)
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