U.S. House Passes Bill To Add Citizenship Question To Census To Stop Illegal Immigrants From Interfering With Congressional Representation

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –

Last week, GOP lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to add a question of citizenship to the census in an attempt to stop illegal immigrants from factoring into any Electoral College apportionment or redistricting. 

H.R. 7109 or the “Equal Representation Act” was filed by Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) and obtained over 100 cosponsors, passing along party lines in the House by a 206-202 vote on Wednesday.

According to the bill text, H.R. 7109 would “require a citizenship question on the decennial census, to require reporting on certain census statistics” and “modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all individuals.”

If passed into law, this legislation would apply to the next decennial census to be conducted in 2030 and any decennial census that follows.

As noted in Blaze Media’s report, every decade states review their congressional map and lose or gain seats based on population data from the census.

Rep. Edwards explained that including the count of non-U.S. citizens in each state’s review “is skewing the representation of Americans in their federal government.”

“The mere presence of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is influencing electoral outcomes and the Equal Representation Act that the House passed would protect our democracy by making sure that American citizens, and American citizens only, have a say in determining the direction of our country,” the bill sponsor said following House passage of H.R. 7109.

According to U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), the bill “will prohibit counting illegal aliens for the purpose of apportioning Congressional seats and electoral votes by states.”

“[The Democrats are] doing this for power,” Sen. Hagerty said about the partisan vote. “They’re doing this to preserve power in many cases because when you think about the exodus from these blue states that are so poorly run, those citizens are leaving. They’re moving to states like mine in Tennessee.”

“As those states lose legitimate legal population,” he continued, “one alternative is to backfill that with folks that are here illegally. And if you think about where the Democrats have situated their sanctuary cities, in states like California, Illinois, New York, where they’re losing population…”

Tennessee U.S. Republican Representatives Burchett, DesJarlais, Fleischmann, Green, Harshbarger, Kustoff, Ogles and Rose all voted in favor of H.R. 7109 with the state’s only Democrat U.S. Representative, Cohen, voting against the legislation.

U.S. Republican Representatives Banks (IN), Burgess (TX), Carter (TX), Granger (TX), Hageman (WY), LaMalfa (CA), Luna (FL), McCaul (TX), McHenry (NC), Murphy (NC) and Sessions (TX) were recorded as “not voting.”

This legislation has yet to be voted on in the U.S. Senate.

About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.