MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall achieved a major victory today in his efforts to prevent illegal aliens from being counted in the 2020 Census. President Trump announced on Tuesday an Executive Order to prohibit the counting of illegal aliens in the Census for purposes of Congressional apportionment.
Attorney General Marshall led the charge on this issue when he filed suit in 2018 against the U.S. Census Bureau arguing that Alabamians would lose their right to equal representation if illegal aliens were counted. Attorney General Marshall also testified before Congress on this issue in June 2018.
“I applaud President Trump for taking decisive action today to protect the integrity of the Census by ensuring that only legal residents of the United States be counted,” said Attorney General Marshall. “When the states’ Congressional seats and Electoral College votes are divided up, representation should be based on those people who reside in their states and this country lawfully. A contrary result would rob the State of Alabama and its legal residents of their rightful share of representation and undermine the rule of law. If people are in our country in violation of federal law, why should the states in which they reside benefit from such violations of federal law?
“That is why since 2018, I have been calling upon the federal government to exclude illegal aliens from the Census count to determine the apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives and Electoral College votes. To do otherwise would award increased federal representation to states with large illegal immigrant populations at the expense of those in this country lawfully. The state of Alabama is among several states that could lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives if illegal aliens are counted for apportionment in the 2020 Census.”
On May 21, 2018, Attorney General Marshall and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. Census Bureau arguing against the inclusion of illegal aliens in the final census count for purposes of determining Congressional apportionment and noting that this will likely cost Alabama a Congressional seat and an Electoral College vote.
In a June 5, 2019 ruling, Judge R. David Proctor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama denied the federal government’s attempt to dismiss Alabama’s lawsuit, and the lawsuit has continued to proceed in federal court. In September 2019, fifteen Democrat-led states, along with the District of Columbia, intervened in the lawsuit in opposition to Alabama.
