Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration for its efforts to include a citizenship question on the 2020 U.S. Census.
The president insists he is still exploring options to have the question included on the Census, including done through an executive order.
On Huntsville’s radio’s WVNN earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) called the ruling one in which inhibited the ability of citizens to “control their own government.” It is also one he said that hurts his own legal effort in conjunction with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall to have non-citizens counted on the Census for reasons of congressional apportionment and the Electoral College.
“Justice [John] Roberts’ decision does not help American citizens control their own government,” Brooks said. “And the reason I say that is to me, illegal aliens should not be a part of the headcount in determining who gets United States congressmen and who gets Electoral College votes, which elects the president of the United States. They’re not supposed to be in our country. According to the 2010 Census, there are about 11 million. According to a Yale University study, in the past six months, there are about 24 million. You should not reward states that harbor illegal aliens, that support lawlessness. You should not reward them with additional political power at the federal government level both in Congress and with the election of the president of the United States. And so, the Justice Roberts’ decision yesterday to prohibit the question as to whether you are a citizen or a non-citizen to the extent that it inhibits our ability to determine how many illegal aliens there are in each state – that tends to undermine our lawsuit.”
Brooks said there were alternative ways to determine the illegal immigrant count but said the best approach was to wait and see how a federal court rules.
“But having said that, please bear in mind that in 2010, that question was not on the Census,” he said. “Yet, the Census Bureau still came up with an estimated 11 million illegal aliens in America. So there appears to be some way in which the Census Bureau can get us the data. If so, it will not have an adverse effect on the litigation. But if it strips us of the ability to get the data you need to properly apportion congressional seats and Electoral College votes based on citizenship and who should legally be here – in any event, we’re going to have to see how it all plays out. It is going to be up to a federal judge in Birmingham.”
@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.