Recent Senate Vote Reveals Major Reason for Continued Mass Immigration
Even the most ardent follower of immigration issues may have missed it. After all, in recent weeks, cable news has been — justifiably — covering the gruesome murder of Laken Riley, the rape of a juvenile in Louisiana, and the rape of yet another child in a Massachusetts migrant center, all allegedly by illegal aliens. But a recent U.S. Senate vote that was largely ignored by the media spoke volumes about one of the left’s underlying motives for fueling mass illegal immigration, and for allowing tragedies like these to continue.
By a 45-51 vote, Senate Democrats defeated U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty’s (R-Tenn.) amendment to bar federal funding from being used for a national census that does not accurately count illegal alien and U.S. citizen populations in the country. The amendment also would’ve prohibited funds from being used to count illegal aliens for purposes of congressional district and Electoral College apportionments.
Senator Hagerty’s response to the partisan vote was swift and blunt: “Democrats’ unanimous opposition to this commonsense measure confirms that they’re using illegal aliens and sanctuary cities to increase their political power.”
Illegal aliens are used as political pawns, and their sheer numbers convey potential power under the current Census configuration, a constitutionally-mandated, decennial inventorying of the country’s population. That data is used to apportion seats in Congress and, although the Constitution doesn’t require it, the Census has become the formula by which federal dollars are allocated to the states — $1.2 trillion a year for schools, roads and other public services. So, in addition to possibly picking up congressional seats, states have the potential to get more money and representative power if their population increases, even if by way of illegal immigration.
Enumeration for the sake of knowing how many people are here is one thing. Giving illegal aliens representation in Congress at the expense of U.S. citizens is quite another. Since the number of U.S. House seats is fixed at 435, reapportionment means that if a given state gains a House district, another state must lose one. It’s a zero-sum game; someone loses when someone wins. Citizens living in states with responsible laws and policies that discourage illegal immigration suffer diminishing power while states like California, New York, and Illinois with sanctuary policies that increase illegal alien populations gain seats and federal grants.
If illegal aliens were evenly distributed around the country, they would have no impact on how House seats are assigned. But immigrants tend to cluster in ethnic communities and especially in sanctuary jurisdictions: Nearly 22 percent of America’s illegal aliens live in California, for example. The net result is that Blue-State power expands while Red State power recedes.
Including illegal aliens in redistricting gives political clout to people who are here illegally and who have made no formal commitment to this country. It’s insulting to our national adherence to the rule of law to confer domestic political influence to persons who have no permission to be in the country at the expense of those who do.
It gets even more absurd because some federal funding programs are designed to provide compensation to the states specifically for foreign residents to cover emergency medical care, incarceration, and English language learning. States want, and need, the money because of the financial burdens imposed by illegal aliens, but at the same time, they embrace sanctuary policies in order to attract more illegal aliens so that they can gain more representation — and then demand more money. It goes round and round in an endless, ever-more costly, and perverse cycle.
Americans bear the social and financial burdens of illegal immigration then watch as sanctuary states are rewarded with greater representation in Congress because of their law-breaking policies that pander to illegal aliens. States that follow the law to minimize their illegal alien populations are punished.
If you doubt just how essential mass migration is to apportionment, party politics, and power, consider Democrat Congresswoman Yvette Clarke’s recent comments. The truth slipped out while she salivated over the prospect of transferring tens of thousands of migrants flooding New York City to her area.
“I need more people in my district just for redistricting purposes.”
Thanks Ms. Clarke for making the convincing case that Census reforms are needed in order to protect the representation of American voters.