Monday, August 10, 2009

Another Reason To Worry About The 2010 Census

The census is used to determine the number of representatives each state is entitled to in the House. Fair enough. But as part of that determination the 2010 census will be counting illegal aliens. From the Wall Street Journal:

Next year’s census will determine the apportionment of House members and Electoral College votes for each state. To accomplish these vital constitutional purposes, the enumeration should count only citizens and persons who are legal, permanent residents. But it won’t.
Instead, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to count all persons physically present in the country—including large numbers who are here illegally. The result will unconstitutionally increase the number of representatives in some states and deprive some other states of their rightful political representation. Citizens of “loser” states should be outraged. Yet few are even aware of what’s going on.


I live in Florida, which more than likely will be one of the “winner” states. However, fundamental fairness, not to mention common sense, dictates that the census only count citizens. The WSJ reports that by counting illegal aliens California will gain nine more representatives than it would if only citizens are counted. Interestingly, the states that will most likely gain by counting illegals are: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Texas with Hawaii and Massachusetts making small gains. Interesting because most of the gains will occur in “blue’ states, which one could theorize is the reason that only the “short form” will be used in 2010.

The WSJ explains:

The 2010 census will use only the short form. The long form has been replaced by the Census Bureau’s ongoing American Community Survey. Dr. Elizabeth Grieco, chief of the Census Bureau’s Immigration Statistics Staff, told us in a recent interview that the 2010 census short form does not ask about citizenship because “Congress has not asked us to do that.”

How convenient.

2 comments:

Elvia said...

That is indeed very convinient, but the illegals need the more representatives, they are the ones that work the fields and practically put the salads on your table. They too are humans and work with the economy.
The Census is suppose to keep head count so that the right amount of schools are built, hospitals are constructed, ...to know how our economy is doing..
Want overcrowded schools for your kid? I think not.
Think about that for a moment.

Carol said...

As a student(?) at Texas A & M, you probably don't pay a lot of taxes. Tell me, why should taxpayers pay for schools to be built for children who are here illegally? Personally, I would rather do without the salad. People who are here illegally do not need more representatives, they need to go home and come back legally.