Platform would alter the census of 2010

The 2008 Republican platform says the makeup of Congress should be determined by counting only legal residents in the next census, not illegal immigrants.

“The integrity of the 2010 census, proportioning congressional representation among the states, must be preserved,” says the platform language. “The census,” it says, “should count every person legally abiding in the United States in an actual enumeration.”

“Our mandate is to count all residents regardless of legal status,” said Mark Tolbert of the Census Bureau.

Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) has proposed a constitutional amendment specifying that congressional representation “shall be determined by counting the number of persons in each state who are citizens of the United States.”

Miller says that states with large numbers of illegal immigrants gain unfair representation in the House. If her amendment had been in place before the 2000 census, Miller said, California would have six fewer seats in the House while New York, Florida and Texas would each have one fewer seat. Michigan would have picked up a seat, she said.