Rounds, Hagerty and Colleagues Introduce Legislation to End Counting of Illegal Immigrants in Determining Electoral College Votes and Congressional District Apportionment
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced the Equal Representation Act, which would work to make certain that only legal citizens are factored into the count for congressional districts and the Electoral College map that determines presidential elections. The current method of counting illegal immigrants for purposes of representation serves as a perverse incentive for open borders to boost the relative political power of the states.
“There is a crisis at our southern border, and major cities in the United States are overwhelmed with migrants who have come here illegally,” said Rounds. “The liberal politicians running these cities are welcoming illegal migrants with open arms. They want to count non-U.S. citizens towards Congressional apportionment to help them gain more seats in Congress. We should not be rewarding this behavior by allowing the practice of counting illegal immigrants for apportionment purposes.”
“It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and non-citizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map,” said Hagerty. “While people continue to flee Democrat-run cities, desperate Democrats are back-filling the mass exodus with illegal immigrants so that they do not lose their seats in Congress or their electoral votes for the presidency, hence artificially boosting their political power and in turn diluting the power of other Americans’ votes. I’m pleased to introduce this legislation that would require a citizenship question on the census and will ensure that only citizens are counted in congressional redistricting.”
The Equal Representation Act would:
- Require that the Census Bureau include a citizenship question on any future census to provide a greater understanding of the U.S. population and delineate between citizens and non-citizens for apportionment purposes.
- Prohibit non-citizens from being counted for purposes of congressional district and Electoral College apportionment.
- Require that the Census Bureau publicly report on certain demographic data.
Rounds and Hagerty were joined by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Ind.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).
###
