Cavez's argument, and other like it, fudge over a very important point. Including illegal aliens and apportioning Representatives accordingly is exactly what the Constitution demands. Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment states it explicitly: "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of PERSONS in each State, excluding Indians not taxed" (emphasis added). It does not exclude non-citizens and in fact forces them to be counted along with citizens.

There is no sneaky plot by the Democrats to grab more power. It is an attempt to comply with the demands of the Constitution. If Chavez and others are worried about how the Constitution supposedly skews power, then they should take it up with the Constitution, not Democrats who simply want to see the law followed. And before they pick on the supposed over-representation of areas with a given number of Representatives, they would also do well to remember that ALL states are guaranteed two Senators and at least one Representative. This arrangement in itself causes skews power inordinately toward smaller states versus bigger ones like California.