Determining citizenship in a census of the United States of America would seem intuitively appropriate and logical. Most Americans probably assume the census is supposed to count all citizens to determine representation in Congress. In part the answer is yes, but there is more to it than just that. Last included in the 1950 census, the Trump Administration is trying to include the citizenship question again which has precipitated several lawsuits alleging the citizenship question is intended to suppress the count of non-citizens and thereby discriminatory to minorities.
Many Americans may be surprised to learn that Congressional representation is based on all people living in a state not just citizens. To fully understand this issue and the current conundrum requires a review of the Constitution and census history. Article 1 Section 2 of the Constitution prescribes a decennial census as follows:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which
may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
In short, this means that everyone gets counted except untaxed Indians who were presumably not participating in our republic and living among us extraordinary to US governance. So all free persons (citizens) and indentured servants (legal aliens) plus three fifths of all other persons (slaves) were to be counted.
The three fifths compromise for slaves has been much maligned, but perhaps instructive for illegal immigrants. The northern states did not want slaves counted at all because they had no rights and their numbers would accrue more representation for their owners to exploit, but not counting them would theoretically concede slaves were not persons. The southern states feared being overwhelmed by the far superior numbers in the northern states, so they wanted slaves fully counted.
The three fifths compromise counted slaves as persons but deprived southern states full credit to boost their representation on voiceless persons they viewed as property. James Madison admitted it was imperfect but necessary at the time to get the Constitution accepted. In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment changed the census criteria to simply all “whole persons” and again excluded “Indians not taxed.”
The Pew Research Center estimated about 10.7 million illegal immigrants living in the US in 2016. In states with higher concentrations of illegal immigrants, this can translate in to greater Congressional representation. Pew estimates about 2.2 million illegal immigrants in California which earns the Golden State about three additional Congressman.
Counting illegals could and perhaps has deprived other states of Congressional representation. Concerned it could lose a Congressional seat in the 2020 census, Alabama led by Congressman Mo Brooks has sued the federal government to not count illegal immigrants. The Constitution clearly states count all “whole persons,” but it does leave room for qualifying how persons in some special status should be counted for Congressional apportionment.
Our founders perhaps did not imagine our nation would allow itself to be overrun by illegal immigrants, but they did recognize that there may be certain groups in the country in unusual circumstances. Illegal immigrants are just that; they are here illegally, so it seems patently unfair that their presence should earn Congressional representation. Counting them becomes even more injurious when “sanctuary states” like slave owners are exploiting their number to increase their influence in maintaining an illegal oppressive system.
The Constitution did provide guidance for those living within our borders but extraordinary to American jurisdiction in that esoteric phrase “Indians not taxed.” That provision was for Indians who rejected American authority and chose to live under tribal rule; they would not be counted for Congressional apportionment. If they renounced tribal rule and exercised the rights of US citizenship, they would be counted.
Are illegal immigrants not in a very similar situation? They reside within our borders evading the requirements of citizenship. And they are not taxed because their status is illegal and unverifiable. Therefore, their number should be known, but they should NOT be counted toward Congressional apportionment.
Such a move would certainly incite a ferocious backlash from sanctuary states, but under the current ambiguous illegal unfair census counting, they have no motivation to implement immigration reform or secure the borders. Leftists are stealing the voices of illegal immigrants to gain greater Congressional representation and more federal dollars. It is time to stop liberals from exploiting illegal immigrants and looting the federal treasury. And more importantly, stop diluting the legal Congressional representation of American citizens.
“Your heart will meditate on terror: ‘Where is he who counts? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?’" Isaiah 33:18
