Correction 3-21-24: An earlier version of this blog failed to describe fully the impact on apportionment of Congress of these new bills. It has been corrected and additional information provided.� We regret the error and express our appreciation to a reader who drew our attention to the issue.�
On January 25, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill, S. 3659, The Equal Representation Act. The bill, which has 20 current Republican cosponsors, would require the decennial census to include a citizenship question beginning with the 2030 count. The bill would also exclude undocumented immigrants from the number of people used to determine apportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for further consideration.
A similar bill, HR 6942, Count Only Citizens Act, was introduced by Representative Matthew Rosendale (R-MT) on January 10. The bill, which currently has 10 cosponsors, was referred to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. The Rosendale legislation would exclude non-citizens who are not �lawfully present� in the U.S. from the apportionment of Congress.
Update 3-21-24: Media coverage of these proposals have misstated the history of how the Census has counted everyone.� Efforts to correct the record are shared in the interest of complete historical context for this proposed legislation. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution required what had been the practice since the first census in 1790 of �..counting the whole number of persons in each State��
Legislation Excluding Undocumented Immigrants from Apportionment Introduced in Congress
Correction 3-21-24: An earlier version of this blog failed to describe fully the impact on apportionment of Congress of these new bills. It has been corrected and additional information provided.� We regret the error and express our appreciation to a reader who drew our attention to the issue.�
On January 25, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill, S. 3659, The Equal Representation Act. The bill, which has 20 current Republican cosponsors, would require the decennial census to include a citizenship question beginning with the 2030 count. The bill would also exclude undocumented immigrants from the number of people used to determine apportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for further consideration.
A similar bill, HR 6942, Count Only Citizens Act, was introduced by Representative Matthew Rosendale (R-MT) on January 10. The bill, which currently has 10 cosponsors, was referred to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. The Rosendale legislation would exclude non-citizens who are not �lawfully present� in the U.S. from the apportionment of Congress.
Update 3-21-24: Media coverage of these proposals have misstated the history of how the Census has counted everyone.� Efforts to correct the record are shared in the interest of complete historical context for this proposed legislation. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution required what had been the practice since the first census in 1790 of �..counting the whole number of persons in each State��
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