Sponsors (21)
The bill would give states and researchers new citizen/noncitizen data and protect representation for high‑citizen states, but risks widespread nonresponse, legal and implementation headaches, civil‑liberty harms, and reduced representation and funding for immigrant‑heavy communities.
State and local governments and researchers would receive official, state‑level citizen vs. noncitizen counts soon after the census, giving planners and scientists new disaggregated data to analyze demographic trends and allocate services.
Residents of states with higher citizen shares (often rural or less-immigrant states) would be more likely to retain current House seats and Electoral College weight because apportionment would reflect citizen counts.
Apportionment tied explicitly to citizens/voters would align representation with the politically enfranchised population, an outcome supporters argue better reflects who should determine representation.
Immigrants and household members would be less likely to respond if asked about citizenship, causing undercounts that would distort population totals used for representation and federal allocations.
Noncitizen residents (including long‑term residents and many children) would no longer count for apportionment, reducing Representatives and Electoral College votes for immigrant‑rich states and shifting political power and federal influence away from those communities.
Public release of state‑level citizen/noncitizen counts could be used to target immigrants for enforcement or discriminatory policies, raising civil‑liberties and safety risks for immigrant communities.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Adds a citizenship checkbox to the 2030 census and requires apportionment of House seats to be based on citizens only starting with the 2030 apportionment.
Official title: Require a citizenship question on the decennial census, to require reporting on certain census statistics, and to modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all individuals.
Introduced June 29, 2025 by William Francis Hagerty · Last progress June 29, 2025
Changes how the federal decennial census and congressional apportionment work by adding a citizenship-status checkbox to the 2030 census and requiring release of state-level citizen/noncitizen counts, and by directing that only citizens be counted when apportioning Representatives (and thus electoral votes) starting with the apportionment based on the 2030 census. Includes a severability clause if any part is found unconstitutional.