Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution mandates that a census be conducted every ten years in such manner as Congress shall direct. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution further states that "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed."
Thus, when illegal aliens are included in the census, states with large numbers of illegal immigrants are rewarded with additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and more votes in the Electoral College. (For CIS research on this topic, see here and here.)
Under this system, a state that has a net outflow of American citizens during a ten-year period may retain its House seats and electoral votes if it can replace its lost population with illegal aliens. Theoretically, a state could have a population consisting of 100 percent illegal aliens and it would still be allocated House seats based on its total population even though no one could legally vote.
Now, just months before the 2010 census gets underway, Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) is sponsoring a bill that would require illegal aliens to self-identify so they can be excluded from the apportionment of House seats and Electoral College votes.
Of Course, Sen. Bennett just happens to be facing a tough re-election fight and needs to do something to overcome his poor record on illegal immigration, which includes sneaking an amendment into an agriculture appropriations bill to grant religious organizations immunity from recruiting, harboring, transporting, and otherwise helping illegal aliens. In addition, he flip-flopped on amnesty proposals that were before Congress rather than just saying no to them.
Despite the political opportunism, Sen. Bennett's proposal has much to recommend it. Individuals unlawfully in the United States who routinely commit multiple felonies (document fraud, perjury on I-9 forms, and identity theft) to get jobs should not be granted representation in the U.S. House of Representatives or votes in the Electoral College.
However, Sen. Bennett's bill won’t pass. The head of the Census Bureau says that it is too late to change the 2010 census forms that have already been printed and Democrats who control Congress will not support the bill.
So, illegal aliens will be granted seats in the House and votes in the Electoral College. Is it any wonder that the American public distrusts politicians of both parties and that voter turnout in the Sen. Bennett's home state is among the lowest in the nation.