The illegal immigration surge revives a centuries-old census spat

Since the American founding, debates have raged among the political class over control of the halls of Congress. During the constitutional convention 237 years ago, the most heated exchanges revolved around the allocation of seats to each state in the House of Representatives.

Pro-slavery state representatives demanded that the census count their slaves to gain more representation for their states. Abolitionists countered, demanding the count include only citizens and insisting on addressing the slavery issue instead of using it as a tool for power manipulation.

As millions move from California and New York to Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho, their electoral power will shift.

Today, Congress grapples once again with census inclusion, with certain representatives exploiting a group for their own benefit amidst the largest influx of illegal immigration in our nation’s history.

Why? The census matters because it dictates the distribution of the 435 members of the House of Representatives among the states. A larger state population means more seats in the People’s House.

Proportionality in the House of Representatives has recently raised concerns for blue states experiencing significant emigration to America’s red bastions of freedom. As millions move from California and New York to Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Idaho, their electoral power shifts.

Yet as citizens head for redder climes, the influx of immigrants to blue sanctuary cities presents an opportunity for states with declining populations to offset their numerical losses. This benefit may explain Democrats’ lack of meaningful border security efforts.

In response, Republicans have pursued a census that counts only U.S. citizens for state populations. Many Americans became aware of the problem in 2019, when President Trump attempted to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census.

Although the Supreme Court barred Trump’s Commerce Department from adding the question through a bureaucratic process, Congress always had the power to require such a question by law.

Understanding this — and rejecting the Democrats’ “sheer power grab” — Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) recently tried to legislate the citizenship question through an amendment to the Democrats’ new spending bill. The amendment aimed to exclude noncitizens from census counts but failed to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Progressives and immigration groups hailed the amendment’s defeat as a victory for immigrants’ rights and voices. However, the vote echoes the intense debates over slavery at the Continental Convention in 1787, where the modern Democratic party’s forerunners insisted on counting slaves for population numbers, revealing a priority for power over human welfare.

Clear dangers await those crossing the United States border illegally, from environmental threats to risks posed by human traffickers. Despite the Democrats’ self-portrayal as heroes of immigration, their refusal to address the consequences of open borders shows their actual priorities.

The Democratic Party, not unlike their forebears among the slave-owning class, counts as many residents as possible within state borders, showing little concern for their welfare. Their interest lies not in the immigrants’ voices but in the numbers they add to the population.

If Hagerty and the Republican Party really want to resolve the border crisis, compromise might be necessary. In negotiating, however, they would do well to remember the founders, who always kept their opponents’ true objectives in view.