Apportionment of members of the House Representatives is for American citizens, not anyone who happens to be in the country at the time the census is taken.
If a specific district had a large festival which drew international attendees at the time the census arrived in the mail should we count legal visiting aliens in order to ensure that American citizens have proper representation in the House? That is just as stupid a suggestion as one that says illegal aliens should be counted.
We have a Republic form of government in which the citizens vote for THEIR representatives on the federal level, not one in which one district, or state, automatically receives greater representation than any other simply because they have chosen to allow illegal aliens to reside in their jurisdictions to do so without any legal repercussions. It's not that difficult of a concept to grasp and has no business being a political left/right divisive wedge issue. Did some of us somehow miss this basic concept of our Republic in our junior high and/or high school civics classes?
If one takes off their partizan political hat (regardless of party) and views this link, I think a rational thinking person could agree that the information collected is important for various reasons. http://www.census.gov/acs/www/about/why-we-ask-each-question/citizenship/ |
