Hagerty’s Equal Representation Act would stop counting illegal aliens when allocating voting power in U.S. elections to prevent illegal-immigration incentive
WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS), today in a hearing elicited confirmation from Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo that illegal aliens are counted in the Census for determining the number of Congressional seats and electoral votes that each state receives, which gives more political power to blue states with sanctuary cities and policies that encourage illegal immigration.
The Department of Commerce is responsible for conducting the Census every ten years. Hagerty’s Equal Representation Act,which every Senate Democrat voted against, would ensure that only legal citizens are factored into the count for Congressional districts and the Electoral College map that determines presidential elections.
The House of Representatives passed the Equal Representation Act on May 8, 2024.
“With respect to the census, I’m quite concerned that the census and apportionment today is conducted in a way that encourages illegal immigration,” Hagerty said.
“I want to just ask you for the record: illegal aliens today are counted in the U.S. census. Is that correct?” Hagerty asked.
Secretary Raimondo confirmed that they are counted.“This total census population, which includes illegal aliens, is then in turn used for the allocation of congressional districts and electoral votes for each state. Is that correct?” Hagerty asked.
“Yes,” said Secretary Raimondo.
“Pointing to a recent video in which Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09) stated that she needed more illegal aliens in her congressional district for ‘redistricting purposes’”, Hagerty continued. “Under the current rules, Secretary, Representative Clarke is right, isn’t she? If she has more illegal aliens come into her district, she’ll have a larger district, she’ll have more power in her district, relative to others that don’t.”
“I’m not going to comment on politics,” Secretary Raimondo replied, to which Hagerty noted: “This is just math. If you have more illegal aliens in your district, you’re likely to have more power in your district. You’ll get greater representation by virtue of their arrival.”
“I introduced legislation to address this: it’s called the Equal Representation Act. That would take away this perverse incentive. It would make certain that only citizens are counted for the purpose of allocating congressional districts and for the purpose of allocating electoral votes. This bill just passed the House of Representatives last week, and I put this bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Every [Senate] Democrat voted against it in March, but I’m very hopeful that common sense will prevail and we can see a see a very different result,” Hagerty concluded.
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