Latino voters and civil-rights groups have asked to join a lawsuit to defend the practice of including people in the country illegally in U.S. Census counts.

The counts are used to configure congressional seats.Alabama sued the Census Bureau in May, arguing the predicted 2020 Census numbers will cause the state to lose a congressional seat and an electoral vote to a state with a “larger illegal alien population.”

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund filed a motion on Thursday on behalf of six voters and the group Chicanos Por La Causa, which are seeking to join the case as defendants.

They say they live in states that could lose congressional seats and federal funding if the count doesn’t include all residents.

Those states include California, Florida, Texas, and Arizona.

(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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