Ricketts, Hagerty, Colleagues Introduce Bill to End Counting Illegal Aliens in the Census

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) joined Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and other Republican colleagues at a press conference to introduce the Equal Representation Act. The bill would add a citizenship question to the census and ensure 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 an incentive for open borders and sanctuary policies that would inflate population counts for political purposes.

The legislation comes after video revealed Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) openly calling for more illegal immigration to her New York congressional district because she “need more people in [her] district for redistricting purposes.”

"Since 1820, the federal government has routinely utilized the Census to ask questions about citizenship status,” said Senator Ricketts. “This current policy rewards sanctuary cities and sanctuary states with outsized population because it's counting people who came here illegally, people who broke the law. And it's fundamentally unfair to states like mine in Nebraska, or states who are following the law, to reward folks in states who are breaking the law… Only citizens can vote in elections and that's the way it needs to remain. It makes sense that only citizens should be counted for the purposes of Congressional representation and Electoral College votes. This bill will make the data and policy changes to make sure we implement that.”

Co-sponsors of the bill include Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mike Braun (R-IN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jim Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), John Thune (R-SD), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and J.D. Vance (R-OH).

Watch the Press Conference Video here.

BACKGROUND
Currently, illegal immigrants are counted for congressional district apportionment and, therefore, Electoral College votes. For example, in a state like California, millions of illegal alien residents result in California taking several more congressional seats and Electoral College votes than the states’ population of citizens would justify. In other words, being a magnet for illegal immigration increases the power of a Californian’s vote relative to an individual in another state with less population boost from illegal immigration. This creates a perverse incentive encouraging illegal immigration and resettlement to increase political power.

Specifically, the Equal Representation Act:
-Requires 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;
-Prohibits non-citizens from being counted for purposes of congressional district and Electoral College apportionment; and
-Requires that the Census Bureau publicly report on certain demographic data.