The Supreme Court has also affirmed that reapportionment and redistricting are to be determined by actual population count. The determination of local residency is a complex process that requires special expertise and careful adjudication. Even persons presumed undocumented may assert a whole range of defenses to halt deportation such as political asylum and adjustment of status. Under the provisions of the Ridge amendment the Census Bureau would have to rewrite the census questionnaire. This needless expenditure is fiscally irresponsible. Ironically. the Ridge amendment would require greater funds to count fewer people. According to the Census Bureau there is no acceptable method of excluding the undocumented from the census count and any effort to do so would seriously flaw the census figures. Excluding the undocumented from the census would compel the Bureau to adopt untested techniques to determine every persons citizenship and immigration status. The Constitution requires the inclusion in the apportionment base of all persons residing in the United States. regardless of their legal status in this country. The 14th amendment provides. in pertinent part. that "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers. counting the whole number of persons. * " The language used in the 14th amendment simply is not ambiguous.
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undocumented immigration deportation