AMAC EXCLUSIVE
Along with posing an existential threat to American sovereignty and national security, the unprecedented surge of illegal aliens crossing the border under Joe Biden is also supercharging longstanding Democrat efforts to hand liberal states more representation in Congress.
Because illegal aliens count toward a state’s overall population for congressional apportionment but can’t vote (at least, in theory – the threat of illegals voting has never been higher) states with high illegal alien populations in effect have outsize power to decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the presidency.
In practice, this has created a significant advantage for Democrats. Liberal states such as California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois take in large illegal alien populations thanks to state and local policies that effectively prohibit immigration authorities from tracking down and deporting illegal border crossers – even those who commit crimes and victimize American citizens, as the country saw in the Laken Riley atrocity.
The intentionality of this scheme was laid bare in March when every Senate Democrat voted against an amendment attached to a $460 billion spending package that would have excluded illegal aliens from being counted on the census for purposes of apportionment.
The amendment, offered by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), failed on a party-line vote that Hagerty said “confirms that [Democrats are] using illegal aliens and sanctuary cities to increase their political power.”
“[Democrats] are seeing people leave their state,” Hagerty continued. “They’re seeing the potential of the next census to lose congressional districts and electoral votes. I think most people in America are shocked to find out that we count the presence of illegal immigrants in determining the allocation of congressional districts and electoral votes.”
Back in 2021, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) also appeared to confirm the political incentive for the left to encourage illegal immigration during a congressional hearing on a surge in illegal aliens from Haiti. “My district can absorb a significant number of these migrants,” she said. “I need more people in my district just for redistricting purposes.”
According to an analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), as of June 2023, there were 16.3 million illegal aliens in the United States (by some estimates that figure is now as high as 20 million). Because every House seat accounts for 761,168 “persons,” that means illegal immigrants account for a population equivalent to the citizens of 22 House seats, or 22 votes in the Electoral College.
Importantly, the illegal alien population is not distributed evenly throughout the country, giving some states a decided advantage when it comes to apportionment.
Deep blue California, for instance, has an estimated 2.7 million illegal aliens, while deep red Indiana has just 102,000.
Another report from the Center for Immigration Studies found that all immigration (including legal immigration) accounted for a shift of 26 seats from one state to another following the 2020 census. Of those 26 seats, 24 shifted out of states that voted for Donald Trump in 2016, while 19 shifted to the solidly Democrat states of California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Texas and Florida were the only states that went for Trump in 2016 and 2020 who gained at least one congressional seat due to immigration following the 2020 census.
Currently, Republicans have just a 218-213 majority in the House, and the corporate media is already speculating that control of the chamber could flip to Democrats even before the November elections. If that were indeed to happen, or if Democrats manage to win a slight House majority this fall, it will likely be thanks to the illegal alien populations of liberal states.
Notably, former President Donald Trump tried to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, warning that allowing illegal aliens to be counted for purposes of apportionment is “part of a broader left-wing effort to erode the rights of the American citizen.” But an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling in 2019 largely doomed that effort.
As alarming as the situation currently is, the worst may be yet to come. The current House apportionment numbers were decided by the 2020 census – conducted before the unprecedented surge of illegal aliens under Biden.
According to Merrill Matthews, a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas, the illegal immigrant population has already nearly doubled under Biden and could increase to more than 30 million if Biden wins another term.
Of course, that’s not to mention the ongoing Democrat effort to give all of these illegal aliens the right to vote – something which would instantly and irrevocably change the political identity of the United States and make it virtually impossible for Republicans to win control of the presidency or either chamber of Congress. Already, states such as California, Maryland, and Vermont allow illegal aliens to vote in some or all local elections.
It’s no secret that Democrats’ far-left agenda is becoming increasingly toxic to the American people. But instead of changing their policies, Democrats are doubling down on their efforts to use illegal immigration as a political weapon to cling to power and perhaps even create a permanent electoral majority.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on X @ShaneHarris513.
