June 6, 2019
Court to rule next whether illegal aliens may be counted in the census
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama crossed a crucial threshold in a suit brought by the State of Alabama and Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama challenging the current practice of counting illegal aliens in the census. The court denied a motion to dismiss made by the federal government, which had argued that Alabama and Rep. Brooks would not be injured by this practice, and thus lacked standing to challenge it in court. In so ruling, the court tracked the reasoning of a friend-of-the-court brief that the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) had filed in the case.
As IRLI had argued, the court found that Rep. Brooks, as a resident of Alabama, would suffer the dilution of his vote if Alabama were to lose a House of Representatives seat and an electoral vote to a state such as California because illegal aliens were counted in the census. And the court found that plaintiffs had plausibly alleged that, because there are so many illegal aliens in this country, most living in just a small group of states that does not include Alabama, Alabama is likely to suffer this loss of representation if illegal aliens are counted.
“The census impacts our national life in a big way,” said Dale L. Wilcox, IRLI’s executive director and general counsel. “It determines where federal funding goes, as well as apportionment of House seats and presidential electoral votes. Already, because so many illegal aliens live in sanctuary states like California, counting illegal aliens in the census has shifted power to those states from states with fewer illegal aliens, and will shift it even more in the same direction in the future – unless this unconstitutional practice is stopped. Law-breaking by foreign nationals, aided and abetted by state sanctuary policies, should not be allowed to influence our self-government,” Wilcox continued. “We applaud Congressman Brooks and the State of Alabama for mounting this crucial challenge, which now can proceed to the merits stage.”
The case is State of Alabama v. Dept. of Commerce, No. 2:18-cv-00772 (N.D. Ala.).
For additional information, contact: Brian Lonergan • 202-232-5590 • [email protected]
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