Democrats Vote Unanimously to Include Illegal Immigrants in Census

The data obtained in the decadal U.S. Census informs the apportioning of House seats and the Electoral College in elections.

A group of immigrants who crossed the river illegally are processed by Border Patrol near the highway outside Eagle Pass, Texas, on Feb. 4, 2024. SERGIO FLORES / AFP

Senate Democrats have unanimously defeated Sen. Bill Hagerty’s (R-Tenn.) proposal to bar illegal immigrants from being counted in the national census, warning that their numbers go toward informing the apportioning of House seats and the Electoral College.

Soon after President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he signed an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to determine the population of each state in the United States without regard to whether residents have lawful immigration status.