U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is urging his colleagues to require the U.S. Census Bureau to include a question about U.S. citizenship in counting the nation's population.
The Florida Republican senator and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee, on Monday introduced the Equal Representation Act to exclude non-U.S. citizens from the decennial count. Several other senators are co-sponsoring the legislation.
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"Illegal aliens shouldn't be allowed to break the law and be rewarded with taxpayer-funded benefits, and states that shelter them shouldn't gain increased influence in Washington as a result," said Scott in a statement announcing the legislation. "Since illegal aliens are currently counted in the census, states like California receive disproportionate representation in the Electoral College and the House of Representatives."
"By restoring the census to its pre-2000 standard and including a citizenship question, this bill ensures that states like California don't gain an unfair advantage over states like Florida, and that every citizen's vote carries equal weight," Scott said.
California has an estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants, but Florida runs third behind Texas, with 1.2 million, according to the Pew Research Center.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, is crafting a similar bill in the House. Her legislation would immediately demand the Census Bureau conduct a new census. She told Fox News last week that she spoke to President Donald Trump about the bill and that he expressed his support.
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