Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is introducing legislation to count only U.S. citizens when determining how many House seats each state receives, according to Fox News as cited in the source text. The proposal is titled the Make Apportionment Great Again (MAGA) Act and would alter the basis for congressional apportionment.
What the bill would do
The source states the MAGA Act would require a reapportionment by 2027 using existing records and add a citizenship question to the 2030 census. According to the source’s description, respondents would identify as citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful residents, or unlawful residents.
Who could be affected
Fox News reported, per the source, that the change could significantly affect states with large noncitizen populations. Citing a 2024 report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the source says immigrant populations—legal and illegal—produced a net increase of 14 House seats in Democratic-leaning states and that Republican states held 10 fewer seats than they would under a citizen-only count. The source also attributes to the U.S. Census Bureau that immigrants comprise roughly one-fifth of the population in California, New Jersey, New York, and Florida.
The resurfaced 2021 clip
The source references a 2021 House Foreign Affairs Committee briefing video in which Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., is quoted as saying, “I need more people in my district, just for redistricting purposes,” adding that her local Haitian community could “absorb a significant number of these migrants.” The source says Fox News reached out to Clarke’s office and that her office declined to comment.
The constitutional fight
The source notes that critics of the proposal are expected to point to the 14th Amendment’s requirement to apportion seats based on “the whole number of persons in each State.” The source argues the amendment’s post–Civil War context differed from today’s immigration dynamics. The source also anticipates legal challenges if the bill advances.
What’s unresolved
The source describes the MAGA Act as a new House GOP proposal; no bill text or legislative status is provided in the source. The CIS estimates, the U.S. Census Bureau figures cited, and the specifics of any citizenship question would require independent verification against primary documents.
