United States Senator Bill Hagerty, alongside 18 Senate colleagues, has reintroduced the Equal Representation Act. This legislation aims to ensure that only legal citizens are counted when determining Congressional districts and the Electoral College map used in presidential elections. Currently, illegal immigrants are included in these counts, which some argue incentivizes open borders by increasing political power for states with higher numbers of undocumented residents.
Senator Hagerty stated, “It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and non-citizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map for the presidency.” He emphasized that this practice skews representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and dilutes the voting power of other Americans.
The bill’s co-sponsors include Senators Katie Britt, Ted Budd, Kevin Cramer, Mike Crapo, Steve Daines, John Hoeven, Ron Johnson, Jim Justice, James Lankford, Mike Lee, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Pete Ricketts, Jim Risch, Eric Schmitt, Rick Scott, Tim Sheehy, and Tommy Tuberville.
Senator Britt highlighted the importance of including only U.S. citizens in census counts for apportioning congressional seats and Electoral College votes. “Counting illegal aliens for these critical purposes only rewards reckless jurisdictions for supporting open borders,” she said.
Senator Budd expressed concern over sanctuary cities using illegal aliens to increase political influence. “Their actions have stripped power away from American citizens who deserve to have their voices and votes equally accounted for,” he remarked.
Senator Cramer voiced his concerns about non-citizens being included in census counts. “Illegal immigrants and non-citizens cannot vote and should not be used as pawns as the Democrats redistrict in various states,” he said.
Senator Crapo stated that only U.S. citizens should be included in Census Bureau counts to apportion representation. He noted that this reform would prevent states like California from inflating their population totals with undocumented residents to gain more political power.
Other senators echoed similar sentiments regarding the need for reform to ensure fair representation based on citizenship status alone.
The full text of the Equal Representation Act is available online for further review.
