By Christopher Smith, Staff Writer
The Supreme Court is reviewing one of President Donald Trump’s final acts as president, a proposed plan that would exclude millions of undocumented immigrants in being included in the 2020 census figures.
Excluding such communities from the census total used for congressional apportionment would result in reduced representation in Congress and fewer federal funds for programs, ranging from health care to education and infrastructure.
California, Florida and Texas would each receive at least one less seat in the U.S. House of Representatives than they otherwise would if Trump’s plan moves forward, while states like Alabama, Minnesota and Ohio would each gain a seat that they would have otherwise lost due to population changes showing the drastic political impacts such a move would make.
Critics of the proposed law cite an unbroken historical and legislative practice spanning more than 200 years of the Census Bureau counting millions of undocumented immigrants.
Senior film major Kyle Smith discussed such concerns.
“I find it disgusting the way that he’s toying with millions of people’s lives as if we’re all political pawns,” Smith said. “We deserve better leadership.”
In Trump’s memo discussing the issue, he expressed concerns about what kind of precedent the government has set.
“Policies that encourage illegal aliens to enter this country and that hobble federal efforts to enforce the immigration laws passed by the Congress should not be rewarded with greater representation in the House of Representatives,” Trump said.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett said that the Act was unlikely to be approved.
“A lot of the historical evidence and longstanding practice really cuts against your position,” she said.
Senior arts management major Brianna Saverino is tired of Trump and is ready for all of the madness to end.
“Honestly Trump has made political engagement really exhausting,” Saverino said.
The Justices are expected to come to a final decision within the coming weeks.
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