Immigrant rights groups seek to dismiss a Republican lawsuit to exclude noncitizens from US census

Immigrant rights groups are seeking to toss out a Republican lawsuit that would prohibit the U.S. Census Bureau from counting people who are in the U.S. illegally during the 2030 census. The groups said the lawsuit filed late last month by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway would violate the law and require a recount of the U.S. population. The Constitution's 14th Amendment says “the whole number of persons in each state” should be counted for the numbers used for apportionment. That's the process of divvying up congressional seats and Electoral College votes among the states. The lawsuit is part of a broader Republican effort to exclude noncitizens or people in the U.S. illegally from census figures.