Friday on Huntsville’s WVNN, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall discussed his recent op-ed in USA Today explaining the merits of a lawsuit he and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) have against the federal government for counting illegal immigrants in the apportionment of congressional seats and Electoral College votes.
Some projections show Alabama losing a congressional seat and Electoral College vote after the 2020 Census given that although Alabama has grown, it has not increased at the rate of other states, particularly those that have enacted policies that encourage illegal immigration to their states.
Marshall named California as one of the states that would benefit from including illegal immigrants in the count.
“It won’t surprise anybody that means that our electoral vote will go to the state of California,” Marshall said on “The Jeff Poor Show.” “And I’m not willing to sit idly by and let that happen. It’s one of the reasons why I’m very grateful for Congressman Brooks. He’s not only a strong advocate in this area, but he has been from the very beginning supportive of this litigation.”
According to Marshall, part of the question deals with an individual’s voting eligibility and if the number to determine congressional apportionment and Electoral College votes should be based on eligible voters.
“What we have done is be able to file a lawsuit against the Census Bureau to say, number one, we want to be able to identify those who are in the country illegally that are otherwise ineligible to vote, I think another important point,” Marshall explained. “And by identifying them, we need to remove them from that apportionment number that goes to determine congressional delegations. We think it makes common sense because if those individuals aren’t eligible to vote, why in the world should it be counted for purposes of determining congressional representation?”
“Because in fact, what that means is states like California that basically foster and encourage illegal immigration and sanctuary cities – it means that other border states disproportionately dilute the political influence of a state like Alabama,” he added. “Frankly, it impacts the state of Ohio. It impacts the state of Montana. We don’t need, in essence, to be the victim of a poor immigration policy in this country.”
“We think it is a critical question, constitutionally,” he added. “We think, again, that Alabama shouldn’t be penalized as a result of California has basically allowed an open door to sanctuary cities and that we need to be able to stand up to make sure that Alabama not only has its appropriate influence in Congress through an adequate number of congressional members, but also we keep that vote in the Electoral College for president.”
Marshall’s lawsuit is separate from another suit against the Commerce Department. Some immigration activist groups want a question removed from the 2020 Census about the immigration status of an individual. Marshall says it was his position that the question remains on the Census.
“We clearly want that question to remain on the Census, I think to be able to identify,” Marshall explained. “Now there’s an argument you can make that there are some equations that you could use based on existing data to be able to determine numbers, people here unlawfully without the Census actually counting them specifically.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
