Missouri Sues To End Counting Of Illegal Aliens In Census, Wants Recount

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced Friday that the state has launched a sweeping constitutional challenge against the federal government, filing suit to end the practice of counting illegal aliens in the U.S. Census and to force a recount of the 2020 Census and the resulting 2021 congressional apportionment.

The lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau, also includes several individual plaintiffs and seeks to fundamentally reshape how federal representation is calculated.

In a press release, Hanaway’s office framed the case as a landmark legal battle over the integrity of representative government.

“To defend our fundamental right to representation in government, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed the most significant election lawsuit in a generation,” the release stated. “This first-in-the-nation suit was filed against the United States Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau for unconstitutionally allowing illegal aliens to commandeer the path to the White House and compromise our elections.”

Hanaway argued that counting illegal aliens for purposes of congressional representation violates the Constitution and undermines the principle of self-government.

“The State of Missouri and its voters can no longer ignore the ongoing denial of their right to self-government and fair representation,” Hanaway said. “United States citizens and lawful permanent residents have a right to representation, unlike illegal aliens and temporary visa holders. In America, the People, the members of the social compact, are the only legitimate source of the government’s power. We are taking a stand against those who are cheating our system.”

The lawsuit contends that the longstanding policy of including illegal aliens in census tabulations is both unlawful and unconstitutional. Hanaway is asking the court to order a recount of the 2020 Census, bar the inclusion of illegal aliens in future apportionments, and invalidate the 2021 congressional seat allocation that followed.

The 96-page complaint names the Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Census Bureau, and Acting Census Bureau Director George Cook as defendants.

According to the filing, the current approach systematically shifts political power away from states that enforce immigration laws and toward sanctuary states that refuse to cooperate with federal enforcement.

“Attorney General Hanaway will not allow open border states like California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland to steal an estimated 11 congressional seats, 11 electoral votes, and billions of dollars in funding,” the release said.

The lawsuit traces the policy of counting illegal aliens back to a unilateral decision made during the Carter administration ahead of the 1980 Census. Hanaway’s office argues that neither the framers of the Constitution nor the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment ever intended for illegal aliens or temporary visa holders to be included in congressional representation.

“They could never have imagined an absurd system where millions of illegal alien trespassers would receive representation in Congress and the Electoral College,” the release stated.

The complaint also highlights actions taken during President Donald J. Trump’s first term. In July 2020, Trump issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Commerce to exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment base, while still allowing them to be counted in raw census data.

That directive was immediately challenged in court by California and New York. Although the Supreme Court ultimately vacated injunctions blocking Trump’s policy, delays in implementation allowed the Biden administration to reverse course and include illegal aliens in the 2021 apportionment.

The lawsuit argues that had Trump’s policy been fully implemented, Missouri would have gained an additional congressional seat and an extra Electoral College vote.

“Instead, the Biden administration hijacked the representation of Missourians by reversing the Trump administration’s action,” the filing states.

Because the case challenges the constitutionality of congressional apportionment, it is expected to be heard by a three-judge federal panel, as required under federal law.

The complaint asks the court to declare that including illegal aliens and temporary visa holders in the 2020 Census and 2021 apportionment violated both the Fourteenth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. It also seeks an order requiring the Census Bureau to redo the census and apportionment, permanently exclude illegal aliens and temporary visa holders from future counts, and prohibit their inclusion in the 2030 Census and 2031 apportionment.

If successful, the case could dramatically alter the balance of political power in Congress and the Electoral College—reshaping federal representation for decades to come.