Bummer: Trump Plan To Not Count Aliens Could Strip House Seats From Certain States

It’s a plan, but, I’m not sure if it will survive judicial review all the way up to the Supreme Court

Trump Census Plan Could Strip House Seats From States With Large Immigrant Populations

The Trump administration is moving to change who counts in the 2030 census, proposing to exclude millions of noncitizens from the population totals used to divide House seats among the states. The shift could cost states with large immigrant populations representation in Congress and Electoral College votes.

Under a Census Bureau rule proposed Thursday, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green card holders, would count toward congressional apportionment. Other foreign citizens would not, including undocumented immigrants and many people legally living in the United States under temporary or less permanent immigration status.

The plan goes further than excluding undocumented immigrants. Some people who have legally lived and worked in the United States for years could also be left out of the population used to determine how much representation their state receives in Congress. (snip)

States with large immigrant populations could see the biggest effects. A 2020 Pew Research Center analysis found that excluding undocumented immigrants alone could have left California, Florida and Texas with one fewer House seat each than they would have received if those residents were included. The new proposal would reach a broader group because some legally present immigrants could also be left out.

This plan is, obviously, driving the Libs nuts, and, really, should non-citizens be counted in the census? I guess we could allow permanent residents (should there be such a thing?), and, obviously, Native Americans who do not consider themselves Americans should still be counted. But, the Constitution kinda says everyone in the US needs to be counted, including legal and illegal aliens.

The 14th Amendment requires House seats to be apportioned among the states according to the “whole number of persons in each State.” Previous challenges to efforts to exclude noncitizens have focused on whether the government can remove residents from the apportionment population based on immigration status.

The administration is relying on a different reading of residency, pointing to the historical meaning of “usual residence” and arguing that the concept can include allegiance or a lasting connection to a state.

Interesting. Will it work? It would also require that a Republican win the White House in 2028, because a Democrat would kill this rule in a heartbeat.