The study, by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that backs tougher restrictions on immigrants, contends that counting illegal immigrants in the census benefits states with the most illegal immigrants, while it penalizes other states without them. California gained three new House seats after the 2000 census because of illegal immigrants, while North Carolina gained one, said the study, reported in Thursday's Wall Street Journal.
"The presence of illegal aliens in other states caused Indiana, Michigan and Mississippi to each lose one seat in the House in 2000, while Montana failed to gain a seat it otherwise would have," the study said.
The census also counted noncitizens in 2000, which besides illegal immigrants includes people on long-term temporary visas, such as foreign students, guest workers and other exchange visitors, and legal permanent residents, also known as green-card holders, the report said.
Looking at the House seats redistributed because of all noncitizens counted in the 2000 census, not just illegal immigrants, California gained six seats, while Florida, New York and Texas each gained one, the report said. Montana was one of nine states that either didn't gain a seat it should have or lost a seat, the study said.
Despite a growing population from 1980 to 1990, Montana lost one of its two U.S. House seats after the 1990 census because it didn't gain enough residents to retain the seat.
That led to the 1992 showdown between the two longtime U.S. House incumbents for the state's single remaining House seat. Democrat Pat Williams, who had represented the western district, topped Republican Ron Marlenee, who had represented the eastern district.
Although Montana's population kept growing in the 1990s, the state lacked enough residents to regain the other House seat after the 2000 census.
Although illegal immigrants can't vote, they are counted as part of the federal census each year.
Officials from the Montana Republican and Democratic parties declined to comment on the study, which may be found at www.cis.org.
Brad Keena, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., said his boss wants to look into the study's conclusions.
"I suspect the average Montana citizen would rightly call this an outrage," Keena said of the study's conclusion. "While it's important for the government to know who lives where in the United States, a distinction still has to be made between the lawful population and those here illegally."
Added Keena: "The stakes are too high to allow one state to use an inflated population count to win more representation at the expense of lawful residents of other states."
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