Race Day Live Kansas has recently joined a significant legal battle alongside attorneys general from Louisiana, Ohio, and West Virginia.
This lawsuit seeks to exclude noncitizens, including unauthorized immigrants, from the U.S. Census count.
The plaintiffs argue that including noncitizens in the census skews political representation and the distribution of federal resources.
The core of the lawsuit is that counting unauthorized immigrants in the census gives states with higher noncitizen populations, like California and Texas, an unfair advantage.
These states receive more representation in Congress and larger federal funding allocations, according to the lawsuit. Kansas, which has a smaller noncitizen population compared to these states, is concerned about losing out on federal resources and political power.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who is leading the legal effort, has called it a “national embarrassment” that the U.S. doesn’t have a clear count of how many citizens it has.
He argues that the inclusion of noncitizens inflates the political influence of states with higher noncitizen populations, undermining the idea of fair representation in the U.S. democracy.
One key concern raised by the lawsuit is the potential loss of congressional seats and electoral votes for states like Ohio and West Virginia, which have already lost representation due to the current census method.
Projections indicate that Kansas and Louisiana could also lose political influence by 2030 if the census continues to count noncitizens.
Critics of the current system argue that this reallocation of political representation and resources harms states with smaller noncitizen populations, diluting the political influence of their citizens.
On the other hand, there is significant concern from opponents of the lawsuit. They argue that excluding noncitizens from the census could have negative consequences for communities.
Population estimates from the census are essential for various public policy decisions, including infrastructure and community planning.
Developers use these estimates to determine where to build new housing, and local governments rely on them to assess the need for services like emergency response teams, including firefighters.
Aude Negrete, the executive director of the Latino Community Network, pointed out that excluding noncitizens could potentially lead to fewer resources for essential services, such as fire protection.
She warned that this could have dangerous consequences, saying, “If a house burns, the neighbor’s house will burn too.” Critics also argue that excluding noncitizens could lead to underfunded public services in communities with large noncitizen populations.
Noncitizens may not qualify for some federal programs, but they still rely on community services like transportation and education, and an undercount could strain these services.
The U.S. Constitution mandates a count of every person living in the country to apportion congressional seats.
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Historically, this has included noncitizens, regardless of their legal status. The lawsuit, however, challenges this practice, claiming that counting noncitizens unfairly inflates the political power of states with large noncitizen populations.
This legal challenge is reminiscent of efforts during former President Donald Trump’s administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which was eventually blocked by the Supreme Court.
The current lawsuit, if successful, could lead to a significant shift in how political power and federal resources are distributed in the U.S., potentially benefitting states with fewer noncitizens.
However, opponents warn that this change could have long-lasting negative effects on communities with large noncitizen populations, leading to underrepresentation and underfunding.
As the legal process continues, the debate is raising important questions about fairness, democracy, and how the U.S. should handle the inclusion of noncitizens in its census count.
The outcome of this lawsuit could change the political landscape in ways that affect both states with large noncitizen populations and those with smaller populations.
It will be important to watch how this legal battle progresses and consider how it may impact communities and resource allocation across the country.
As of now, projections show that states like California and Texas, which have large noncitizen populations, could lose political influence, while states like Kansas and Louisiana could also see a decrease in their federal resources and representation by 2030.
Kansas’s involvement in this legal effort has sparked a complex debate about the balance between fair political representation and the distribution of resources.
Proponents of the lawsuit argue that the current census method unfairly benefits certain states, while opponents stress the potential harm to communities and public services.
As this legal battle unfolds, it highlights the challenges of creating an accurate, fair, and inclusive census in a diverse country like the U.S.
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