In a guest opinion published by The Billings Gazette, Daines was clear about his purpose: to discourage census participation in other states with large immigrant populations so that Montana would be more likely to gain a second House seat.

“But most importantly, for Montana, the question could lead to a major win,” Daines wrote.

The idea of deliberately skewing the census results is abhorrent first because it is dishonest, but also because it is contrary to the U.S. Constitution.