Ban Urged on Letting Illegal Aliens Count in Reapportionment

Forty-one members of Congress filed suit in federal court Thursday to challenge the Census Bureau’s inclusion of illegal aliens in the reapportionment count, which determines congressional seats for each state.

The suit is aimed at a reapportionment that would be determined by the 1990 census. Seats would be decided in 1991 and the first effects would be felt in the congressional election of 1992.

Counting the illegal aliens, who are not allowed to vote, in the census would give states such as Texas, California and New York more seats in Congress, because seats are apportioned on population counts, said Rep. Tom Ridge (R-Pa.), who is spearheading the suit.

The plaintiffs do not want to change federal funding formulas for states with illegal aliens, or cut off benefits, Ridge said.

“All we’re saying is: ‘You are on our shores, but you are not citizens. Until you become citizens, you should not be included in the population base to determine who’s to be represented in the House of Representatives of the United States.’ ”

The suit asks the federal court to enjoin the Census Bureau, the Commerce Department and the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives from including illegal aliens as a basis for the reapportionment after the 1990 census, said Rob Byer, a Pittsburgh lawyer involved in the suit.