TOPLINE
President Trump plans to sign a memorandum on Tuesday that excludes undocumented immigrants from the census, the latest in a series of efforts to decrease Democratic representation in Congress and the polling station, but which experts say is in direct violation of the principles. constitutional.
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 3: (AFP OUT) The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signs executive orders in the … [+]
KEY FACTS
“Today, President Trump will sign a deal memorandum to ensure that American citizens receive adequate representation in Congress,” said a senior White House official. Forbes “This action will clarify that illegal aliens will not be included for the purpose of distributing Representatives after the 2020 Census.”
The official stated that “excluding illegal aliens for the purpose of distributing them reflects a better understanding of our Constitution and democratic principles.”
An administration official also told Reuters the document will be “another decisive step to meet [Trump’s] Solemn promise to ensure that only US citizens are represented in Congress, not illegal aliens. “
The Trump administration has for years sought to limit the representation of illegal immigrants in the census and redistribution of congressional districts, but courts have repeatedly nullified the effort.
The Supreme Court blocked an effort to include a citizenship question in the census in June 2019, resolving it a violation of the constitution’s enumeration clause, which requires representation from Congress, but sent it back to a district court for further deliberation.
The administration ended its efforts to address the citizenship issue through the courts last July, but Trump promised to find alternative solutions.
Crucial quote
“Today I am here to say that we are not backing down in our effort to determine the citizenship status of the population of the United States,” Trump said last July. “I stand before you to describe the new steps my administration is taking to ensure that citizenship is counted so that we know how many citizens we have in the United States. Makes sense?”
Critical boss
“This is blatantly unconstitutional,” Mother Jones writer Ari Berman tweeted. “The census required by Amendment 14 to count ‘whole number of people in each state’ for representation in Congress, which includes undocumented immigrants.”
What to look
It is unclear what effect, if any, the memorandum will have. However, New York Times Journalist Katie Rogers noted that “it would create an immediate legal challenge 105 days before the elections.”
