Newsweek Looks at Vitter-Bennett
The online edition of Newsweek has a new story on the Vitter-Bennett effort to disrupt the census and reapportionment. It includes these two graphs:
Immigrant advocates have been bracing for this clash for months. As Simon Rosenberg of the left-leaning New Democrat Network recently argued in a blog posting, “The Republican assault on the census and reapportionment will not end next week even if the Bennett-Vitter Amendment is voted down,” which it likely will be. “This is going to be a titanic battle.”
Rosenberg and others decry the proposed amendment as divisive. They say it seeks to pit traditionally red states that receive fewer immigrants (like Indiana and Montana) against blue states that are magnets for them (like California and New York). Indeed, an analysis cited in a New York Times article today showed that if noncitizens were stripped out of the population totals, California would lose five congressional seats and New York and Illinois one each. Among the beneficiaries (surprise, surprise): Louisiana, Vitter’s home state, which would be spared the loss of one seat. Get ready for more skirmishes ahead.
A Senate vote could come as early as today. Call your Senator or use this site to take online action against this pernicious effort.
And use this recent NDN Backgrounder for more.
- Simon Rosenberg's blog
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