An effort by Senate Republicans to prevent noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, from being counted in the census for the purposes of apportioning House and Electoral College seats was rejected later Friday after the measure did not gain the support of a single Democrat. .
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., proposed including an amendment, attached to the $460 billion spending package, that would require the Census Bureau to include a citizenship question on any future census, and then prohibit anyone who is not American citizen be counted for redistricting and Electoral College purposes.
While the bill would also exclude legal immigrants with temporary visas and green cards from the census, the measure has been explicitly taken to prevent illegal immigrants from being counted among the millions of new arrivals at the southern border. It is similar to a Trump-era effort to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census. Trump's effort drew widespread criticism and condemnation from Democrats and left-wing immigration groups who argued that a citizenship question was illegal and It was designed to help Republicans in future elections.
Sen. Hagerty says Democrats are engaging in 'pure power grab' by tolerating border 'carnage'
February 19, 2024: Senator Bill Hagerty tours the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Senate Republican Conference)
Hagerty told Fox News Digital last month that he believes Democrats in “sanctuary” cities and elsewhere are accepting the effects of the immigrant surge because they hope to gain greater representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College through reapportionment. of districts.
“They are seeing people leave their state. They are seeing the potential of the upcoming census to lose congressional districts and electoral votes. I think most people in America are surprised to discover that we count the presence of illegal immigrants when determining allocation . of congressional districts and electoral votes,” Hagerty said.
“But if you think about the motives for the crime that's taking place on our southern border, that's it. That's what Democrats are trying to do,” he said. “And it's pure power grab. It's cynical as hell, and it's really the simplest explanation for why they would tolerate this killing and chaos. It's to retain and gain power.”
Some conservatives Experts have warned about the potential for increased immigration in the House apportionment in particular. Lora Ries of the Heritage Foundation published an essay with RJ Hauman, president of the National Immigration Enforcement Center, warning that illegal immigration is causing “distorted representation” in Congress.
WHITE HOUSE CALLS ON SANCTUARY CITIES TO COOPERATE WITH ICE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FORT FOR THE CRIMES OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Migrants cross the Rio Grande at the US-Mexico border in Piedras Negras, Coahuila state, Mexico, on Friday, October 6, 2023. (Alejandro Cegarra/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Prohibiting the census from including noncitizens in the apportionment is critical to ensuring that American citizens—the only population that can and should vote in American elections—elect America's leaders,” Ries and Hauman wrote, warning that the crisis is “distorting the representation that states have in the House and how many electoral votes they have in presidential elections.”
However, Hagerty's amendment failed after 51 Democrats and independents voted against the measure or were not present. One Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voted against the measure. All other Republicans voted in favor of the measure or were not present. The vote was 51-45 against.
The largely united Republican support for the measure suggests it could pass the GOP-controlled House.
In a statement, Hagerty said the Democratic opposition “confirms that they are using illegal aliens and sanctuary cities to increase their political power.”
7.2 MILLION ENTER THE US UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION, A GREATER THAN THE POPULATION OF 36 STATES
The vote comes as immigration remains a hot-button political issue. President Biden visited the southern border last week and at the State of the Union on Thursday renewed his calls for Congress to pass a bipartisan border bill.
“Look, folks, we have a simple choice: We can fight to fix the border, or we can fix it. I'm ready to fix it. Send me the border bill now,” Biden said.
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The bill would increase border staffing and funding for cities and NGOs that receive migrants. It would also impose a cap on border entries, but Conservatives say the 5,000-a-day trigger would normalize already excessive levels of illegal immigration.
Fox News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
