Two Republican Senators are proposing to add a question to the 2010 Census that would ask people if they are here illegally.
The amendment, put forth by Republican Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Bob Bennett of Utah, would mean that people here illegally would be excluded from the Census count that determines how many representatives each state should have in the House.
"Illegal aliens should not be included for the purposes of determining representation in Congress, and that's the bottom line here," said Vitter, according to USA Today.
The amendment is headed for a Senate vote today.
Immigrant advocacy groups are adamantly opposed to it, saying it is already difficult to persuade illegal immigrants to participate in the Census, because many fear that the information could be used to deport them. Government and Census officials have long insisted that it is not true.
The amendment "would raise more questions in the public mind about how confidential the Census is," Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, told USA Today.
In addition to being a scientific tool to count the number of people living in the United States, the Census is also used to divvy up the 435 legislators in the House of Representatives, as well as distribute federal dollars to regions for services such as schools and clinics.
After the 2000 Census, for instance, states such as California, Texas, Arizona and Florida all gained lawmakers, while states like Connecticut, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan lost them.
Since its inception in 1790, the Census has asked people to state whether they are native-born or foreign-born, but has never asked about legal status.
