Sponsors (67)
The bill would give state and local officials timely, consistent citizenship counts that can improve planning and shift apportionment toward states with fewer noncitizens, but it risks lower census participation, privacy harms, increased costs and litigation, and reduced political representation and protections for immigrant and minority communities.
State and local governments, researchers, and planners would receive timely (within 120 days) state‑level citizenship counts to inform policy, enforcement, redistricting, and service planning.
Provides a consistent, decade‑to‑decade source of state‑level citizenship breakdowns to improve demographic analysis and long‑term service and resource planning.
States with smaller noncitizen populations would likely gain Representatives and Electoral College votes, increasing the relative political representation of citizens in apportionment.
Immigrants and mixed‑status households would be less likely to respond to the census, reducing overall response rates and degrading the accuracy of population counts used for planning and funding.
Individuals in immigrant communities could face increased privacy and safety risks if citizenship data are accessed or misused by enforcement or other agencies.
Communities and states with large noncitizen populations would lose Congressional seats and Electoral College votes, reducing their federal political influence and representation.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Chuck Edwards · Last progress January 3, 2025
Requires the Census Bureau to add a citizenship-status question option to the decennial census starting with the 2030 census and to publish state-level counts broken into four citizenship categories within 120 days after each census. Changes the apportionment law so noncitizens are excluded from the population totals used to allocate U.S. House seats and Electoral College votes, beginning with the reapportionment after the 2030 census. Includes a severability clause to preserve the rest of the law if part is held invalid.