Last month, a 2021 clip of Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke during a hearing on the Haitian illegal immigration crisis went viral because the New York Democrat appeared to say the quiet part out loud. In her remarks, she lamented that critics were complaining about the surge in illegal border crossers from Haiti because she argued a “significant number” of these “migrants” could be absorbed by the diaspora in her district.
“When I hear colleagues talk about the doors of the inn being closed, no room at the inn, I’m saying I need more people in my district for redistricting purposes, and those members could clearly fit here,” she said, confirming the belief among many on the right that there is a clear political advantage for Democrats to the massive influx of illegal immigrants coming to the U.S.
Now, we have a better sense of just how big of an impact the border crisis could have on the House of Representatives and Electoral College.
Overall, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, there are an estimated 16.8 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. as of June 2023. Therefore, because every House seat represents 761,168 residents on average, the total number of illegal immigrants account for roughly 22 seats in the House.
And the most recent census, which was conducted in 2020, reduced the number of House seats apportioned to New York from 27 to 26. The state, according to the Census Bureau, would have needed just 89 more residents to maintain its previous apportionment, a calculation that highlights how fragile states' House seat levels are.
In addition, electoral votes for presidential elections are distributed to states based on how many representatives in Congress they have. Therefore, a state with a larger number of House seats has greater influence during presidential elections every four years. […]
Earlier this month, [Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center] published an essay alongside RJ Hauman, the president of the Immigration Center For Enforcement, warning that illegal immigration is triggering a "warped representation" in Congress.
"Barring the Census from including noncitizens in apportionment is critical in making sure that American citizens — the only population who can and should vote in U.S. elections — are picking America’s leaders," Ries and Hauman wrote. "Biden’s intentional border crisis has produced unprecedented apportionment issues, distorting the representation that states have in the House, and how many electoral votes they have in presidential elections." (Fox News)
Fortunately that's an issue that lawmakers are now addressing head on thanks to the resurfaced video of Clarke.
Last month, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced the Equal Representation Act to ensure “only legal citizens are factored into the count for Congressional districts and the Electoral College map that determines presidential elections.” Reps. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced companion legislation in the House shortly afterwards.
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“Blue states may be losing citizens over their liberal policies, but they’re making up for it by welcoming illegal immigrants,” Blackburn said in a statement. “Democrats have admitted the quiet part out loud as they continue to justify their open border policies: they just need a higher head count to help them acquire more seats in Congress and more dollars from the federal government. This is wrong and un-American. Only U.S. citizens should be counted for purposes of congressional and Electoral College apportionment.”
