Missouri Sues To End Counting Of Illegal Aliens In Census, Wants Recount

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced Friday that the state, along with several individual plaintiffs, has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau seeking to end the counting of illegal aliens in the census and force a recount of the 2020 Census and 2021 congressional apportionment.

In a press release, Hanaway described the lawsuit as a major constitutional challenge to how federal representation is calculated.

“To defend our fundamental right to representation in government, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed the most significant election lawsuit in a generation,” the release stated. “This first-in-the-nation suit was filed against the United States Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau for unconstitutionally allowing illegal aliens to commandeer the path to the White House and compromise our elections.”

“The State of Missouri and its voters can no longer ignore the ongoing denial of their right to self-government and fair representation,” Hanaway said. “United States citizens and lawful permanent residents have a right to representation, unlike illegal aliens and temporary visa holders. In America, the People, the members of the social compact, are the only legitimate source of the government’s power. We are taking a stand against those who are cheating our system.”

The lawsuit argues that the current policy of counting illegal aliens in census tabulations is unlawful and unconstitutional. Hanaway is asking the court to order a recount of the 2020 Census and prohibit the inclusion of illegal aliens in future census apportionments.

The 96-page complaint names the U.S. Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Census Bureau, and Acting Census Bureau Director George Cook as defendants.

According to the complaint, federal representation is being shifted away from states that enforce immigration laws and toward sanctuary states.

“Attorney General Hanaway will not allow open border states like California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland to steal an estimated 11 congressional seats, 11 electoral votes, and billions of dollars in funding,” the release said.

The lawsuit argues that the policy of counting illegal aliens in the census dates back to a unilateral decision by the Carter administration prior to the 1980 Census.

Hanaway’s office said the framers of the Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment never intended for illegal aliens or temporary visa holders to be counted for congressional representation.

“They could never have imagined an absurd system where millions of illegal alien trespassers would receive representation in Congress and the Electoral College,” the release stated.

The filing also points to actions taken during the Trump administration.

In July 2020, Donald Trump issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Commerce to exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment base, even though they were still counted in the raw census data.

California and New York immediately challenged the order in court.

While the Supreme Court ultimately vacated the injunctions blocking Trump’s policy, the resulting delays allowed the Biden administration to reverse course and include illegal aliens in the 2021 apportionment.

The lawsuit argues that if Trump’s policy had been implemented, Missouri would have gained an additional congressional seat and an extra vote in the Electoral College.

“Instead, the Biden administration hijacked the representation of Missourians by reversing the Trump administration’s action,” the filing states.

Because the lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of congressional apportionment, it is expected to be heard by a three-judge panel under federal law.

The complaint asks the court to declare that including illegal aliens and temporary visa holders in the 2020 Census and 2021 apportionment violated the Fourteenth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act.

It also seeks an order requiring the Census Bureau to redo the 2020 Census and 2021 apportionment, remove illegal aliens and temporary visa holders from future apportionment bases, and prohibit their inclusion in the 2030 Census and 2031 apportionment.