Mo Brooks Sues Census Bureau Over Counting Undocumented Immigrants
Congressman, state attorney general say practice could cost Alabama a seat in the House
Republican Rep. Mo Brooks and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Census Bureau over a rule that would count undocumented immigrants to determine state population.
In the suit, Marshall said Alabama would lose one seat in the House of Representatives and a seat in the Electoral College if the rule proceeds, AL.com reported.
“Congressional seats should be apportioned based on the population of American citizens, not illegal aliens,” Brooks said in a press release. “After all, this is America, not the United Nations.”
The State of Alabama & I have jointly filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the Census Bureau’s practice of counting illegal aliens, which dilutes American citizens’ 14th Amendment right to equal representation. https://t.co/wIS7kDL13e
— Mo Brooks (@RepMoBrooks) May 22, 2018
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern Alabama said the rule violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and is inconsistent with the goal of equal U.S. representation.
The lawsuit said Louisiana, Missouri and Ohio lost House seats because immigrants who did not enter the country legally were included, while California, Texas and Florida gained seats in the 2010 census.
“The Constitution does not permit the dilution of our legal residents’ right to equal representation in this manner,” Marshall said in a statement.
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