WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) announced Thursday that he and a group of fellow Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that, if it became law, would make key changes to the data the U.S. Census Bureau gathers every decade.
The Equal Representation Act, led by Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, would require the census to include a question regarding respondents' citizenship status beginning with the 2030 count. The bill would also aim to exclude noncitizens from the number of people used in determining the apportionment of representatives and the number of votes in the Electoral College.
The question would ask those partaking in the census to affirm whether they are a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national who is not a citizen, a person lawfully living in the country, or a person unlawfully living in the country. It also requires the Census Bureau to report and publicly share the data regarding the answers to that question no later than 120 days after the completion of the count.
“The basic function of the census is to determine an accurate makeup of our country. To ignore the fundamental distinction between legal citizens and illegal aliens produces not only inaccurate data, but creates an incentive for policies that encourage illegal immigration. We are already facing the worst border crisis in American history. Now is the time to reverse the failed policies of the past. That’s why I am glad to join Senator Hagerty on this bill and thank him for leading it," Budd said in a statement.
The Census Bureau confirms that all people - both citizens and non-citizens - with a usual residence in the U.S. are included in the resident population for the census.