Can a noncitizen be drafted or counted in a census?

Two responsibilities of citizenship are to defend the country and to be counted in the federal census conducted every ten years. During World War I, members of several Virginia tribes refused to enter the armed services when drafted, asserting that because Indians were not American citizens they could not be conscripted. When a court confirmed that they were not citizens, they volunteered.

That was the law. Was it justice?

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

Citizenship_Cook deposition 12_1078_007.JPG

The Virginia Board decided that because members of the Pamunkey Indian tribe had never been allowed to vote, they were not considered citizens of the United States and thus could not be subject to the draft.

Residents of the Mattaponi Indian Reservation argued that because they were wards of the state, they should not be counted in the census.

Citizenship_Indian Kemper ltr 12_1078_006.JPG

W.M. Kemper, executive assistant to the governor of Virginia, wrote to Chief Custalow of the Mattaponi Indian tribe that "all persons living within the Commonwealth" must be counted in the census.

Six days after Kemper wrote to Chief Custalow, the enumerator returned to the reservation, and the tribe complied with her request to be counted in the census. She made a note that the Indians owned their own houses but did not own any land because they were wards of the state.

Can a noncitizen be drafted or counted in a census?

That was the law. Was it justice?

Related Links:

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924