By Matt Rooney
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It’s a move which could have a major impact on the U.S. House of Representatives beginning in January 2022. The big question is whether the president can accomplish what he’s reportedly trying to do.
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Trump will reportedly make the demand on Tuesday in a letter to the Bureau.
A legal battle is certain to follow.
The main text of the U.S. Constitution refers only to “persons”; the 14th Amendment says the “whole number of persons in each state.” The State of Alabama recently launched a legal challenge to counting illegals in the decennial census, arguing that the framerss never intended “persons” to include those who were in the United States illegally.
The seccond layer to the fight will be Trump authority to direct the Census count.
Article 1, Section 2 tapped Congress (not the Executive Branch) to complete the “actual enumeration” of the U.S. population in “such manner as they shall by law direct.”
Blue states like New Jersey could be in for a rude awakening if Trump is successful; the Garden State alone is home to an estimated nearly half of a million illegal aliens. The state could lose a House seat, dropping from 12 to 11, if the President gets his way. Stay tuned.
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