Washington
Including people without legal status in census has had little impact on House seats, study finds
Republicans are trying to exclude people who are in the U.S. illegally from the numbers used to portion out congressional seats among the states. But a new study says their inclusion in the past four censuses has had little impact on presidential elections or control of Congress. The study by two demographers says that if residents lacking permanent legal status had been excluded from the census numbers used in the apportionment process from 1980 to 2020, no more than two seats in the House of Representatives and three Electoral College votes would have shifted between Democrats and Republicans.
Republicans are trying again to exclude people who are in the U.S. illegally from the numbers used to portion out congressional seats among the states. But a new study says their inclusion in the past four censuses has had little impact on presidential elections or control of Congress.
If residents lacking permanent legal status had been excluded from the census numbers used in the apportionment process from 1980 to 2020, no more than two seats in the House of Representatives and three Electoral College votes would have shifted between Democrats and Republicans, according to the study by two demographers from the University of Minnesota and the Center for Migration Studies of New York.
The impact of including people who are in the U.S. illegally has been “negligible,” wrote the researchers.
The 14th Amendment states “the whole number of persons in each state” should be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, the process of allocating congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states, based on population after each census. As a result, the U.S. Census Bureau has counted all U.S. residents in the once-a-decade censuses, regardless of their citizenship or legal status, and those numbers have been used for apportionment.
But some Republicans have argued that only citizens should be counted for apportionment. A Republican redistricting expert wrote in the past decade that using citizen voting-age population instead of the total population for the purpose of redrawing congressional and legislative districts could be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.
The GOP attorneys general of Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio and West Virginia last month filed a lawsuit attempting to exclude people in the U.S. illegally from the apportionment numbers. Voters in California and Texas, supported by the Democratic-affiliated National Redistricting Foundation, have asked to intervene, saying the GOP lawsuit would harm them by taking away congressional representation and Electoral College votes from their states.
During his first term, President Donald Trump signed an order that would have excluded people in the U.S. illegally from being included in the 2020 census numbers used for apportionment. The Republican president also later mandated the collection of citizenship data through administrative records.
Trump issued the memos after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an earlier attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaire. The high court said the administration’s justification for the question “seems to have been contrived.”
Both Trump orders were rescinded when President Joe Biden arrived at the White House in January 2021, before the 2020 census figures were released by the Census Bureau. Upon returning to the White House last month, Trump rescinded the Biden order.
Because the number of House seats is set at 435, apportionment is a zero-sum game.
Under the hypothetical scenario of not counting people who were in the country illegally, two seats would have switched states in 1980, with California and New York each losing a seat and Indiana and Georgia each gaining one, according to the demographers.
In 1990, California would have lost two seats, Texas would have lost a single seat and Kentucky, Massachusetts and Montana each would have gained a seat. In 2000, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Montana each would have gained a seat, California would have lost three seats and Texas would have lost a single seat, under the scenario.
After the 2010 census, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and North Carolina each would have gained a seat, California would have lost three seats and Texas and Florida each would have lost a single seat. After the 2020 census, California and Texas each would have lost a seat, and Ohio and New York would have gained a seat each.
California
Former football players sue Netflix series over their portrayals
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six former East Mississippi Community College football players who appeared in the documentary series “Last Chance U” have sued the school, Netflix, the National Junior College Athletic Association and the program’s director over their portrayals.
John Franklin III, Ronald Ollie, C.J. Reavis, Deandre Johnson, Tim Bonner and Isaiah Wright say they’re seeking $30 million in damages after receiving no compensation for their contributions to the project.
They say they’re holding the defendants accountable “for the wrongful misappropriation of their likeness and to ensure fair compensation for their work.”
Franklin, Ollie and Reavis played for East Mississippi in 2015. Johnson and Bonner were there in 2016. Wright played in both 2015 and 2016.
The list of defendants also includes Conde Nast Entertainment and Greg Whiteley, the director and executive producer of “Last Chance U.” Conde Nast was listed as a production partner of the series, which focused on the lives of junior college football players. The first two of the series’ five seasons focused on East Mississippi.
The plaintiffs say they weren’t given an opportunity to consult an attorney or read their contracts in their entirety before agreeing to have their names and images included in the series. They said that at no point were they made aware the documentary would be marketed for commercial use while they were pressured into “impulsively signing agreements.”
“The most coercive tactic defendants used upon the plaintiffs was telling them if they did not sign the contracts, they were not eligible to practice,” John Pierce, the lawyer representing the players, said in a complaint filed last week at Los Angeles County superior court. “In turn, they would not be eligible to play games, and their football skills would deteriorate. Inability to practice meant closing the door on what they committed their whole life towards, eventually playing professional football. Plaintiffs had no real negotiation or any meaningful choice except signing what was presented to them without ever being instructed of the purpose of filming or being advised to read through the contract in its entirety.”
The complaint indicates East Mississippi sold merchandise involving the players portrayed in the series, but that the plaintiffs didn’t receive any compensation. It also says Wright, Ollie and Franklin were portrayed in a false light, damaging their reputations.
Including people without legal status in census has had little impact on House seats, study finds
Republicans are trying to exclude people who are in the U.S. illegally from the numbers used to portion out congressional seats among the states. But a new study says their inclusion in the past four censuses has had little impact on presidential elections or control of Congress. The study by two demographers says that if residents lacking permanent legal status had been excluded from the census numbers used in the apportionment process from 1980 to 2020, no more than two seats in the House of Representatives and three Electoral College votes would have shifted between Democrats and Republicans.
Republicans are trying again to exclude people who are in the U.S. illegally from the numbers used to portion out congressional seats among the states. But a new study says their inclusion in the past four censuses has had little impact on presidential elections or control of Congress.
If residents lacking permanent legal status had been excluded from the census numbers used in the apportionment process from 1980 to 2020, no more than two seats in the House of Representatives and three Electoral College votes would have shifted between Democrats and Republicans, according to the study by two demographers from the University of Minnesota and the Center for Migration Studies of New York.
The impact of including people who are in the U.S. illegally has been “negligible,” wrote the researchers.
The 14th Amendment states “the whole number of persons in each state” should be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, the process of allocating congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states, based on population after each census. As a result, the U.S. Census Bureau has counted all U.S. residents in the once-a-decade censuses, regardless of their citizenship or legal status, and those numbers have been used for apportionment.
But some Republicans have argued that only citizens should be counted for apportionment. A Republican redistricting expert wrote in the past decade that using citizen voting-age population instead of the total population for the purpose of redrawing congressional and legislative districts could be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.
The GOP attorneys general of Kansas, Louisiana, Ohio and West Virginia last month filed a lawsuit attempting to exclude people in the U.S. illegally from the apportionment numbers. Voters in California and Texas, supported by the Democratic-affiliated National Redistricting Foundation, have asked to intervene, saying the GOP lawsuit would harm them by taking away congressional representation and Electoral College votes from their states.
During his first term, President Donald Trump signed an order that would have excluded people in the U.S. illegally from being included in the 2020 census numbers used for apportionment. The Republican president also later mandated the collection of citizenship data through administrative records.
Trump issued the memos after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an earlier attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaire. The high court said the administration’s justification for the question “seems to have been contrived.”
Both Trump orders were rescinded when President Joe Biden arrived at the White House in January 2021, before the 2020 census figures were released by the Census Bureau. Upon returning to the White House last month, Trump rescinded the Biden order.
Because the number of House seats is set at 435, apportionment is a zero-sum game.
Under the hypothetical scenario of not counting people who were in the country illegally, two seats would have switched states in 1980, with California and New York each losing a seat and Indiana and Georgia each gaining one, according to the demographers.
In 1990, California would have lost two seats, Texas would have lost a single seat and Kentucky, Massachusetts and Montana each would have gained a seat. In 2000, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Montana each would have gained a seat, California would have lost three seats and Texas would have lost a single seat, under the scenario.
After the 2010 census, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and North Carolina each would have gained a seat, California would have lost three seats and Texas and Florida each would have lost a single seat. After the 2020 census, California and Texas each would have lost a seat, and Ohio and New York would have gained a seat each.
California
Former football players sue Netflix series over their portrayals
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six former East Mississippi Community College football players who appeared in the documentary series “Last Chance U” have sued the school, Netflix, the National Junior College Athletic Association and the program’s director over their portrayals.
John Franklin III, Ronald Ollie, C.J. Reavis, Deandre Johnson, Tim Bonner and Isaiah Wright say they’re seeking $30 million in damages after receiving no compensation for their contributions to the project.
They say they’re holding the defendants accountable “for the wrongful misappropriation of their likeness and to ensure fair compensation for their work.”
Franklin, Ollie and Reavis played for East Mississippi in 2015. Johnson and Bonner were there in 2016. Wright played in both 2015 and 2016.
The list of defendants also includes Conde Nast Entertainment and Greg Whiteley, the director and executive producer of “Last Chance U.” Conde Nast was listed as a production partner of the series, which focused on the lives of junior college football players. The first two of the series’ five seasons focused on East Mississippi.
The plaintiffs say they weren’t given an opportunity to consult an attorney or read their contracts in their entirety before agreeing to have their names and images included in the series. They said that at no point were they made aware the documentary would be marketed for commercial use while they were pressured into “impulsively signing agreements.”
“The most coercive tactic defendants used upon the plaintiffs was telling them if they did not sign the contracts, they were not eligible to practice,” John Pierce, the lawyer representing the players, said in a complaint filed last week at Los Angeles County superior court. “In turn, they would not be eligible to play games, and their football skills would deteriorate. Inability to practice meant closing the door on what they committed their whole life towards, eventually playing professional football. Plaintiffs had no real negotiation or any meaningful choice except signing what was presented to them without ever being instructed of the purpose of filming or being advised to read through the contract in its entirety.”
The complaint indicates East Mississippi sold merchandise involving the players portrayed in the series, but that the plaintiffs didn’t receive any compensation. It also says Wright, Ollie and Franklin were portrayed in a false light, damaging their reputations.
