Immigration remains a central political issue in the minds of U.S. politicians and the public as the 2024 presidential election approaches, with recent polling by Gallup showing Americans rated it the country's top problem for the last three months.
Donald Trump has made "closing the border" a tentpole commitment if he is elected with top Democrats warning of the risks posed to the party over the issue.
This week, in a post viewed 60 million times on social media, it was claimed by a former Donald Trump advisor that Democrats had now given "illegals" new electoral representation by opposing a bill that would have changed how the House of Representatives is organized.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by former adviser to Donald Trump Stephen Miller, viewed 32.6 million times said: "ALERT: House Dems just voted UNANIMOUSLY to give illegals representation in Congress AND the Electoral College. House Seats and Electoral College votes WILL BE added to areas with the most illegals (including all Biden illegals) unless Senate passes the bill. Invasion by design."
The post included a screengrab of H.R. 7109, the Equal Representation Act, showing that 202 Democrats voted against it on May 8, 2024.
A repost of Miller's message by Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk with the "100%" emoji was viewed 30.8 million times.
The Facts
Miller's characterization of this bill is misleading.
The Equal Representations Act, introduced by North Carolina Republican Representative Chuck Edwards would require the decennial census to include a citizenship question and "modify apportionment of Representatives to be based on United States citizens instead of all persons."
The decennial census, which will next take place in 2030, is conducted to form the Constitutional basis to reapportion the U.S. House of Representatives, determining the 435 memberships, or seats, in the House.
"The mere presence of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is influencing electoral outcomes, and the Equal Representation Act that the House passed would protect our democracy by making sure that American citizens—and American citizens only—have a say in determining the direction of our country," Edwards said in a statement.
However, opposition to the bill does not afford undocumented migrants new rights or representation, as representation based on population size, including citizens and non-citizens, has been in place since 1790.
Representation also includes military and civilian employees of the U.S. government deployed outside the U.S.
Miller appears to suggest that Democrats had given this new right to immigrants as part of an "invasion" conspiracy. All that has happened is that Democrats voted against enacting a new policy that would require changes to the apportionment process.
Newsweek has contacted Miller's advocacy group, America First Legal, via a contact form for comment.
The Donald Trump administration attempted and failed to introduce a similar citizenship question for the 2020 census. The Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the question planned for the census was based on "contrived" rationale, blocking the move in a 5-4 decision.
The Ruling
False.
House Democrats have not given undocumented migrants political representation. A recent bill passed in the House, but opposed by Democrats, would require a Census question to count U.S. citizens and non-citizens. The Census determines the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives.
The bill would use this data to exclude non-citizens from calculating House apportionment.
Non-citizens have been included in the Census since 1790 so Democrats have not given any representations or rights.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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