If President Donald Trump’s census order -- which excludes undocumented immigrants from counting in the congressional reapportionment process -- stands three states are poised to lose seats in the House of Representatives, according to a new study.
The Pew Research Center’s study reports that California, Texas and Florida would each wind up with one less representative based on an overall change in population due to Trump’s census order.
"The discretion delegated to the executive branch to determine who qualifies as an 'inhabitant' includes authority to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status," Trump wrote in a memorandum issued last Tuesday.
Before Trump issued the order, California was set to lose one seat. Under the order it would lose two. Florida would gain only one seat if the order stands. It was slated to gain two. Texas would land two seats instead of three.
If those three states lose seats, three other states will keep seats that they were set to lose, according to the study.
Instead of each losing one seat, Alabama, Minnesota and Ohio would keep their current seats under Trump’s order.
Fox News reports that at least four lawsuits or notices signaling a legal challenge is forthcoming have already been filed in an attempt to block Trump’s plan.
Some of the president's opponents have alleged Trump is trying to suppress Latino Americans' political power by issuing the order.
But, Trump’s memo states that including residents who do not have legal status would "create perverse incentives encouraging violations of Federal law."
Members of the House Oversight Committee will hear testimony on the topic from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham and others on Wednesday.
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