House Committee Aims to Stop Illegal Aliens from Slanting Congressional Apportionment
April 26, 2024
Kari Jacobson
Government Relations Associate
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability recently approved Congressmen Chuck Edwards’ (R-N.C.) and Warren Davidson’s (R-Ohio) H.R. 7109, the Equal Representation Act. H.R. 7109 would reinstate a citizenship question on the decennial census and only allow United States citizens to count towards determining the number of congressional seats – which also allocates Electoral College votes for presidential elections. The bill was advanced by a vote of 22-20, with every Democrat voting against it.
During the Oversight Committee’s markup, Republican members emphasized the commonsense purpose of the bill, while Democrats argued fervently that it was partisan, and moved the country backwards. Congressman Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said, “The only people who should be able to make political decisions within the framework of a representative government are the citizens of that government of that nation…that’s not xenophobic, that’s common-sense.” In contrast, Democrats on the committee repeatedly called the bill a shameful attack on illegal aliens. Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) claimed that, “You have to count everyone for representation, everyone deserves representation.” And Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) stated, “I think it’s really shameful that we have this effort…It certainly in my opinion is a direct attack especially on undocumented people in this country.”
While illegal aliens are not allowed to vote in federal elections, a population spike in some states due to illegal immigration could impact congressional district and Electoral College apportionments. According to a 2023 FAIR analysis of Census Bureau data, at least 16.8 million illegal aliens now reside in the United States. That figure represents an increase of at least 2.3 million aliens since President Biden took office in January 2021. The spike in the illegal alien population ties together with new data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) showing that the nation’s broader foreign-born population has also exploded, increasing 15.6 percent since 2010. That data reveals that the foreign-born population has now reached 13.9 percent (46.2 million) of the total U.S. population, up from 12.9 percent (40 million) in 2010.
https://www.fairus.org/blog/2024/04/26/house-committee-aims-stop-illegal-aliens-slanting-congressional-apportionment
