Could illegal aliens choose our next President?

Along with the New Year comes the once per decade United States census. The more recent censuses have created heated debates and this year is no different. Senator David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, introduced legislation that would require persons not in the country legally to be omitted in the counting of our population.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) allowed the bill to come to the floor of the Senate but did not allow any debate to take place. The Vitter amendment was defeated 60 to 39 on a vote that was strictly along party lines. The only Senator not voting was the too liberal Republican John McCain of Arizona.

In 1790 the first Census Act stated that “only bona fide members of a state, subject to all the requisitions of its laws, and entitled to all the privileges which they confer” shall be counted. The first census actually asked individuals their place of birth to determine if they were a lawful citizen that should be counted (1). The decision to count or not count illegal aliens is a decision that will have consequences for the next decade. Yet many Americans do not realize the ramifications of an inaccurate count of lawful citizens.

Each year there is approximately $400 billion in discretionary funds in the Federal budget. Using data furnished by the census bureau the federal government disperses these funds based on an areas total population (2). The more populated an area is the more federal dollars that area receives for social services such as unemployment benefits. Is it really fair that an area flush with illegal aliens receive more Federal dollars than an area that is more heavily populated with American citizens?

If illegal aliens are counted in the 2010 census nine states, ( Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Oregon), will each lose one representative in the House of Representatives. Four states (California, Texas, Illinois and New York) will gain representatives (3). This means that illegal aliens will have a voice in Congress and influence American policy.

The Electoral College consists of voters from each state called Electors. Each state sends as many Electors to the Electoral College as they have Senators and Representatives. For example if a state has two Senators and 46 Representatives they would send 48 electors to the electoral college.. If illegal aliens are counted in the census and the result is some states losing representatives while others gain representatives, the Electoral College will not reflect the true counting of legal citizens. An example of this is the 2004 Presidential election. Because Illegal aliens were counted in the 2000 census John Kerry received five electoral votes that otherwise would have gone to George Bush (4). States with a high population of illegal aliens will have more representation than states with a low population of illegals even if the population of legitimate citizens is the same. Therefore it could be argued that illegal aliens could influence the outcome of an American presidential election. Is this the outcome the American public desires? I believe this is the outcome the liberal politician desires.

Americans should petition Senator Vitter to reintroduce his legislation to the Senate and then contact their Senator and ask them to vote for this bill.


Carl D. Goodson


(1)http://onlinewsj.com/article/SB10001424042970204908604574332950796281832.html
(2) http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=21803&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1721
(3) http://www.fairus.org/site/DocServer/apportion.pdf?docID=2061
(4) Ibid.