Although some consider it a stroke of genius by red state government officials to bus illegal immigrants to blue sanctuary cities and states, it could have long-term political ramifications, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) warns.
Palmer, the fourth-ranking Republican in the U.S. House by virtue of his Republican Policy Committee chairman role, said the surge of illegal immigration under President Joe Biden could impact Congress given that illegal immigrants are counted in the U.S. Census for representational purposes during an interview with Birmingham, AL News Radio 105.5 WERC’s “Alabama’s Morning News with JT.”
Given those illegal immigrants are making their way to Democrat-voting sanctuary cities and states, it could be a net benefit for Democrats in Congress.
“[A]side from the birthright citizenship issue here about people coming illegally and having a child, there’s also the issue on the Census, JT — all of these people who are here illegally, this five or six million that have crossed the border since Biden has been here, if they stay here they get counted in the next Census, and that impacts how many representatives each state can get. So, as these sanctuary states invite these people in, you know, every 750,000 or so gives them another seat in Congress. That’s got to change.”
“It’s not about how they vote, though,” Palmer added. “It’s not that they might be able to vote. Right now, they don’t have the right to vote. It’s that every person here gets counted for representational purposes, even college students. If you’ve got college students here from China or some other country, in the Census, they get counted for representational purposes even though they’re going to leave after. I just think that’s a problem with our system because when you have states that have a disproportionately high number people living there illegally, they should not be considered for representational purposes, even though they don’t vote, they can’t fund a candidate and they can’t run for office. But yet, it is to the benefit of a state like California.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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