A group of left-wing politicians from across the country assert that asking United States residents on the U.S. 2020 Census if they are citizens of the country would “violate the Constitution.”
In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, — who will decide if the citizenship question is placed back onto the Census — Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and 19 left-wing Attorney Generals from states such as New York, Massachusetts, California, and Connecticut are urging that residents not be asked if they are U.S. citizens or not on the 2020 Census.
Among the arguments made by the left-wing politicians is that asking residents if they are U.S. citizens would not only “violate the Constitution,” but it would harm “the states’ interests,” despite the move making it more concise and accurate for congressional districting purposes on how many citizens there are in each district, state, and the nation.
The state politicians write:
Adding a citizenship question at this late date would fatally undermine the accuracy of the 2020 Census, harming the states and our residents. The Justice Department’s request should be rejected because adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census would reduce participation and response rates, threatening the Census Bureau’s ability to comply with its obligations under the Constitution and harming the states’ interests. [Emphasis added]
The group of left-wing elected officials also claims that asking residents if they are U.S. citizens would not lead to a more “proportionate electoral representation in our democracy.” Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and other proponents of the citizenship question say the purpose of the question is to do just that. The politicians state:
Fair, proportionate electoral representation in our democracy depends on valid Census data. The proposal to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census questionnaire would defeat that goal, violate the Constitution, and undermine the purposes of the Voting Rights Act that the Justice Department claims it wants to protect. Because inclusion of a citizenship question would threaten the Census Bureau’s ability to conduct its constitutionally – mandated role, and would be arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act – causing significant, direct harm to our states and residents – we urge you to reject the Justice Department’s request. [Emphasis added]
In an exclusive column for Breitbart News, Kobach explained why the citizenship question on the 2020 Census is paramount to restoring electoral fairness in congressional districting.
Aside from the obvious fact that every sovereign nation ought to know how many citizens it has, there are even more important reasons to know this information. The very principle of one person, one vote, is at stake. [Emphasis added]
Right now, congressional districts are drawn up simply based on the number of warm bodies in each district. Not only are legal aliens counted, but illegal aliens are counted too. As a result, citizens in a district with lots of illegal aliens have more voting power than citizens in districts with few illegal aliens. [Emphasis added]
Think of it this way. There are about 710,000 people in each congressional district. But, if half of the district is made up of illegal aliens, then there are only 355,000 citizens in the district. The value of each citizen’s vote in such a district is twice as high. [Emphasis added]
The open borders lobby, as well as left-wing California politicians, are deeply opposed to the citizenship question on the 2020 Census, with illegal aliens telling local media that they would feel “targeted” if they are not included on the Census.
A video by the Washington Post on the citizenship question’s impact on congressional districting admits that adding the question to the Census would give more power to rural America, rather than major coastal metropolitan regions where the vast majority of illegal aliens live.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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