Some Republicans in Congress are advocating to include a citizenship question on the census questionnaire and exclude noncitizens from the count that helps determine political power in the United States. This proposal, known as the Equal Representation Act, aims to eliminate noncitizens from the census tally used to decide how many House seats and Electoral College votes each state receives. However, the bill is not expected to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the White House opposes it due to legal concerns, as the Constitution mandates that all individuals should be counted during the apportionment process. Despite these challenges, the proposal has sparked concerns among redistricting experts, civil rights groups, and Democratic lawmakers, who view it as an attempt to alter the dynamics of the census significantly.
Opponents of the citizenship question argue that it has never before gained such traction in the legislative process, signaling a shift towards its potential implementation. Previous attempts to include similar language in an appropriations bill were rejected by senators in March, with many viewing it as a move to support the Republican agenda on immigration leading up to the 2024 elections. This push aligns with the GOP’s strategy to gain advantages in a closely divided country. The 14th Amendment mandates that congressional seats be distributed based on the total number of persons in each state, highlighting the critical role of census figures in allocating political power and federal funding.
Efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census failed when the Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration’s proposal. Subsequently, the government under Trump sought to identify the citizenship status of all U.S. residents through administrative records and exclude undocumented individuals from the count used for apportioning congressional seats. President Biden revoked these directives soon after taking office, emphasizing the importance of including all individuals in the census count. Republican supporters argue that counting noncitizens skews representation away from American citizens and benefits locations with large populations of non-citizens sympathetic to the president’s agenda. Although critics claim the citizenship question was influenced by a Republican redistricting expert, the GOP maintains that accurate information can only be obtained by including noncitizens in the count.
The Biden administration has raised concerns about the GOP bill, emphasizing its potential to increase census costs, hinder the collection of accurate information, and violate the 14th Amendment. A Census Bureau simulation conducted last year suggested that a significant number of noncitizens were missed in the 2020 census, which civil rights groups attribute to the previous administration’s citizenship-question push. This ongoing debate underscores the significance of the census in shaping political power and federal resource distribution. Whether or not the Equal Representation Act becomes law, the conversation surrounding the inclusion of a citizenship question continues to provoke intense debate among lawmakers, experts, and advocacy groups.
