Census Proposal Sparks Fight Over Who Counts for House Seats
Washington, October 31: A dispute over a proposed census change has deepened, with lawmakers pressing the administration to reconsider a rule that would reshape who is counted when congressional seats are assigned. More than 150 Democrats in the House, including five Indian-American members, want the proposal withdrawn.
The rule would remove certain non-American citizens from the population data used to set how many House seats each state receives.
Five Indian-American lawmakers, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Suhas Subramanyam and Shri Thanedar, signed a public comment letter. The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus shared details of the initiative.
Robert Garcia, a senior Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is leading the campaign. Chairs of the Asian Pacific American, Hispanic, Black and Equality caucuses are also involved.
Garcia vowed to resist the plan at every level. "We will oppose this rule in Congress and in the courts," he said.
The lawmakers say the proposal conflicts with the intent and language of the 14th Amendment, which ties state representation to total population. Restricting demographic questions, they argue, would also erode the tools needed to safeguard voting and civil rights.
Grace Meng, chair of the Asian Pacific American Caucus, said the changes could diminish political representation for minority groups and affect the resources available to them. She noted that losing key data would also make it harder to detect inequalities among communities.
Under the Census Bureau's plan, green card holders would still be counted in the population figures used to allocate congressional seats. Undocumented immigrants and non-citizens with a less permanent legal status than a green card would be left out, including people in the country on temporary visas.
The proposal additionally seeks to eliminate questions on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from the census form. The limit would not apply to the American Community Survey or to surveys that do not aim to count the total population.
The Census Bureau maintains that permanent residence and allegiance to the nation should determine who belongs in the data used for congressional representation. It is considering administrative records to establish legal status and has invited public suggestions on adding a legal status question to the census form.
On Friday, Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller released a separate letter supporting the plan. She urged an even broader approach, asking that all non-American citizens, including green card holders, be excluded from the population used for dividing House seats.
Her group also asked that demographic questions be restricted on the American Community Survey, a step beyond what the Census Bureau has proposed. According to Miller, representation should depend only on American citizens.
The National Conference of State Legislatures, in a Friday comment, requested 60 additional days for public input and consultation with states. It stressed that census counts are vital for setting electoral district boundaries and that survey estimates and administrative records cannot fully replace the detailed census.
The group also cautioned that altering data collection without consulting states could complicate compliance with redistricting laws. Because the American Community Survey generally reports on large geographic areas rather than individual census blocks, states may need to spend more to collect the smaller-area data needed for election maps.
The Census Bureau published the proposal on September 10. A notice issued on October 5 extended the public comment deadline from October 13 to November 2.
The United States holds a census every 10 years, and its results are used to split the 435 House seats among the 50 states in proportion to population.