America must have a Census recount

By U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn
R-Tennessee

Last month, Republicans made history by providing the largest-ever investment in border security in our nation’s history. With the One Big Beautiful Bill signed into law, President Trump now has the resources he needs to complete the southern border wall with hundreds of miles of new barriers. The legislation also empowers the Department of Homeland Security to hire thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents to protect our nation from criminals, cartels, and terrorists.

In many ways, the One Big Beautiful Bill bolsters the Trump administration’s historic success in making America safe again. In July, illegal crossings reached an all-time low, with border encounters down almost 90 percent from the Biden administration. Since Inauguration Day, ICE has also arrested close to 150,000 illegal aliens, including violent criminals, drug dealers, and human traffickers.

These efforts are making our communities safer. But instead of supporting them, Democrats have attacked our brave federal law enforcement.

In May, a congressional Democrat tried to storm an ICE facility and now faces federal charges for allegedly assaulting an ICE officer. For months, her colleagues have smeared ICE agents who are risking their lives to protect our country, comparing them to “secret police” and Nazis. And Democrats in both chambers of Congress have pushed legislation that would prohibit officers from wearing masks, exposing them and their families to targeted harassment.

ICE agents, who are facing a 1,000 percent increase in assaults, deserve our unwavering support. Yet once again, Democrats are siding with criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.

One big reason why: The Census Bureau for years has included illegal aliens in its census count, which determines the number of congressional seats (and federal tax dollars) each state gets. As hundreds of thousands of Americans flee blue states over sky-high taxes and job-killing regulations, Democrats hope to offset these losses by harboring illegal aliens in sanctuary cities. As one New York Democrat put it, aliens are needed in blue precincts “just for redistricting purposes.”

Thankfully, President Trump is bringing an end to this shameful attack on U.S. citizenship. Last week, he directed the Commerce Department to create a new census that excludes illegal aliens from the population count, ensuring that congressional representation is based on American citizens—not illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country.

In addition, a new census would correct the 2020 census’s lopsided undercount of red states and overcount of blue states, which granted three congressional seats to Democrat-run states that they never should have received. 

To support President Trump’s efforts, I joined Senator Hagerty and my Senate Republican colleagues in introducing the Equal Representation Act, which would require congressional apportionment to be based only on U.S. citizens, not illegal aliens. Recently, I also introduced the REMOVE Act, which would require an illegal alien to be deported within 15 days of the start of their removal proceedings, empowering the Trump administration to expedite deportations.

One thing should be clear: Illegal aliens do not belong in our country or the U.S. Census. And Republicans are fighting to ensure that happens.