Census results are an important tool used to determine representation in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Electoral College.
Republican Senator Bill Haggerty of Tennesee attempted to include a provision in the government funding stop-gap deal not to include any non-citizens in the Census. All Senate Democrats voted against Hagerty's measure, as did Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
While the bill would also exclude legal immigrants on temporary visas and green cards from the census, the move has been undertaken explicitly to stop illegal immigrants from being counted amid millions of new arrivals at the southern border. It's similar to a Trump-era effort to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census. Trump's effort sparked widespread criticism and condemnation from Democrats and left-wing immigration groups who argued that a citizenship question was unlawful and was designed to help Republicans in future elections.
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Some conservative experts have warned about the potential of the migrant surge on House apportionment in particular. The Heritage Foundation's Lora Ries published an essay alongside R.J. Hauman, the president of the National Immigration Center For Enforcement, warning that illegal immigration is triggering a “warped representation” in Congress.
Immigration continues to be a top issue on the minds of voters ahead of the 2024 election.
