Author Archive
Will the Census Count Illegal Immigrants?
Posted by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in ACORN, Politics on October 8th, 2009
Last week, I told you about a ridiculous FEMA firefighter grant that was awarded to ACORN in Louisiana. Because of this website’s coverage of the issue and your action, the story grew, and FEMA finally made a statement saying that they would permanently withhold that grant from ACORN. Thank you for raising awareness of this clear waste of first responder funding that could go to countless needy volunteer firefighter organizations or other first responders.
This week, I wanted to make you aware of a growing concern about the U.S. Census and illegal aliens and how the two could drastically affect congressional apportionment and possibly your own state’s congressional representation.
In the past, some states have included illegal aliens in the collection of census data, and this has often resulted in the allocation of additional congressional seats to those states – at the expense of other states that lose seats because of the skewed data.
Illegal aliens shouldn’t be included for the purposes of determining representation in Congress. I don’t believe that this is what our founding fathers had in mind when they laid out our current system of representation.
Illegal immigration is a very real and significant concern for our country. We shouldn’t let these states be rewarded for skirting our federal laws.
That’s why this week, I introduced an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill that would require questions in the census regarding citizenship and immigration status. The amendment is, of course, designed to help us identify illegal aliens, primarily to prevent states from counting them for the purposes of determining population levels and other data associated with the census.
The data collected during the census is used by Congress to determine multiple issues of importance beyond apportionment, including government program spending levels. Essentially, my amendment would prevent funding from being used to collect census data that does not include a question regarding United States citizenship and immigration status.
It’s a very simple and direct amendment that can help us bring about a very positive change. It obviously won’t help us identify all illegal aliens, but it’s a step in the right direction.
FEMA Grant to ACORN is Offensive
Posted by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) in ACORN, Featured Story, News, Politics on September 29th, 2009
Earlier this month and despite the public scrutiny over the voter fraud and felony criminal activity associated with ACORN, the Department of Homeland Security went ahead and granted $997,402 to ACORN under the FY 2008 Fire Prevention and Safety Program.
To most people, the timing and the amount of the grant would seem off base, but when you take into account the fact that DHS awarded ACORN–an organization with no clear expertise in fire safety and prevention–a fire prevention and safety grant, it’s just plain offensive.
With fire departments all over Louisiana – and the rest of the country – struggling to make ends meet and get the equipment and training they need to protect their local communities, the idea of a million dollar grant going to ACORN is unsettling, to say the least.
I’ve had grave reservations about ACORN for some time, and over the past year we’ve seen numerous examples of serious allegations of wrongdoing on the part of this organization and its employees across the country. I simply can’t see the logic behind diverting much needed funding from worthy fire departments to this organization.
So last week, I wrote a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano requesting that she rescind this grant from ACORN. As of today, the Secretary has not responded to my request. This site will post a copy of the letter for you to read and see for yourself.
Rest assured, I’ll keep working to help prevent further ACORN schemes to procure federal money.