*Statement Attributable to ACLU of Missouri Legislative and Policy Director Sara Baker
The ACLU of Missouri stands in strong opposition to HJR 100, which takes aim at Missouri’s immigrant community.
HJR 100 excludes resident populations from consideration when we draw electoral districts, choosing to only count those among us who are U.S. citizens. It is a direct attempt to undermine the representation of Missouri’s cities. Missouri has a population of 6,113,532 and an immigrant population of roughly 242,761 individuals. In 2015, immigrants accounted for 14.5 percent of business owners in Kansas City and 6.5 percent of business owners in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
If immigrants move away from our state because we fail to welcome them and instead seek to push them into the shadows, Missouri loses. 141,797 immigrant workers comprise 4.7 percent of Missouri’s labor force. They work in healthcare, in manufacturing, and in education to make Missouri prosper. Immigrant-led households in Missouri paid $1.3 billion in federal taxes and $517.8 million in state and local taxes in 2014. While most states gained immigrants from 2010-2014, Missouri lost thousands.
Missouri’s count of its citizens will show fewer people than if we count all those who call Missouri home. America has a history of not counting all of its people. We must not erase the existence of our neighbors, friends and family.