Vitter Offers Census Amendment to Require Questions about Illegal Aliens

Press Release

U.S. Sen. David Vitter today introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that would require questions in the census regarding citizenship and immigration status. His amendment would also prevent states from counting illegal aliens for the purposes of determining population levels and other data associated with the census.

"Illegal immigration is a very real and significant concern for our country," said Vitter. "In the past, some states have included illegal immigrants during the census, resulting in the allocation of additional congressional seats. We shouldn't let these states be rewarded for skirting our federal laws and this amendment would help stop this practice."

Vitter's amendment would prevent funding from being used to collect census data that does not include questions regarding United States citizenship and immigration status.

"This is a very simple and direct amendment that can help us bring about a very positive change," Vitter said. "It obviously won't help us identify all illegal aliens, but it's a step in the right direction. Illegal aliens should not be included for the purposes of determining representation in Congress, and that's the bottom line here."

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