Attorney General Hanaway Leads 22 States Supporting Rule Excluding Illegal Immigrants from Congressional Apportionment

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Today, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced that, alongside Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, she is leading a coalition of 22 states in support of the United States Department of Commerce's and the United States Census Bureau's proposed reforms to stop illegal immigrants from manipulating the census and hijacking congressional apportionment.

"Election integrity requires fair representation based on the American people-not political power gained by counting illegal immigrants and temporary foreign visitors," said General Hanaway. "This commonsense rule would help ensure that illegal immigration cannot sway the census, distort congressional apportionment, or dilute the representation of law-abiding states."

The proposed rule would revise the Census Bureau's "usual residence" criteria. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents would be included in the population used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives, while people unlawfully present and temporary foreign visitors would be excluded from that apportionment population. It also seeks public input on adding questions about citizenship and lawful permanent resident status to the census form.

The coalition supports the proposed rule as an important safeguard for election integrity and fair representation, arguing that congressional seats should reflect Americans' permanent legal status in the United States, not mere physical presence. To ensure an accurate apportionment count, the coalition recommends that, beginning with the 2030 Census, every household be asked whether each person is a U.S. citizen and, if not, whether that person is a lawful permanent resident. The coalition maintains that this approach would ensure that representation in Congress is based on U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents while restoring fairness and public confidence in the apportionment process.

As noted in General Hanaway's suit against the Census Bureau earlier this year, federal representation is being stolen from states that uphold immigration law, including Missouri, and transferred to sanctuary states that artificially inflate their population by harboring illegal immigrants. An expert retained by Missouri concluded that California gained three electoral votes and three seats in Congress in the 2021 apportionment because illegal immigrants were counted, while Missouri would have gained a vote and a seat if they had not been counted.

"States should not receive additional congressional representation as a reward for encouraging illegal immigration. We're glad the Trump Administration has renewed efforts to restore constitutional representation in Congress. We will not allow non-citizens to game the census and cheat our system for political power," concluded General Hanaway.

The following states joined the Missouri and Kansas-led comment : Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.