Nearly 80 million non-citizens now reside in America, and their inclusion in the census threatens to steal seats in Congress from the very citizens it represents.
The following editorial ran in the Tuesday 26 August 2025 edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
The State Department under President Trump has launched a sweeping review of all 55 million foreigners currently holding U.S. visas. This comes after four years of record-breaking illegal immigration and surging visa admissions under Biden. When he took office in 2021, about 10.5 million illegal aliens were already here. By the end of his term, another 20 million had crossed the border, with roughly 14 million staying. At the same time, more than 55 million foreigners were granted temporary visas as students, workers, or long-term visitors. Altogether, nearly 80 million non-citizens now reside in the United States, according to studies produced by the Center for Immigration Studies. Out of 335 million people, only 255 million are citizens—nearly one in four are not Americans.
The Constitution requires a census every ten years, not as a sociological study but for one purpose only: to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. That raises the obvious question: do representatives serve citizens or temporary visitors with no allegiance to this country? Over time, politicians and bureaucrats have twisted “the whole number of persons” to include illegal aliens and long-term visa holders. The same progressives who can’t tell you what a woman is now pretend they can’t tell you what an American is.
Even the Census Bureau admits not everyone is counted—tourists, business travelers, ambassadorial families, etc.––excluded as non-U.S. residents. And yet this logic does not apply to illegals and visa holders. Instead, states with large foreign populations gain extra seats and Electoral College votes, creating a perverse incentive to pad their counts with illegal aliens.
This dilutes the voice of American citizens. Representation flows from the consent of the governed, not from millions of non-citizens. When nearly one in four residents of the United States is not an American, the distortion becomes obvious. Citizens are overwhelmed in a system they never chose. No wonder millions turned to Donald Trump. He was the only one willing to call the theft of their power what it was.
For forty years Washington has used immigration policy to reshape the country’s demographics and tilt the balance of political power. Democrats have been open about it, not only counting illegals and visa-holders in the census, but promoting ‘sanctuary cities’ to keep them here.
Beyond politics, and the internal wreckage of these cities, the costs are staggering. In New York, schools and gyms have been packed with migrants while the city spent $3.75 billion in 2024 on shelters and services, with expenses projected to hit $4.75 billion in 2025—covered mostly by city and state taxpayers, not Washington. Hotels became de facto shelters under a $1 billion contract, paying $352 a night per room, $130 of it to the hotels. The city also handed out prepaid debit cards (about $12–13 per person per day) fueling anger among citizens whose own needs go unmet.
What should be done?
- Stop counting non-citizens in the census for purposes of congressional representation. The House is meant to represent citizens, not visitors. If states want more seats in Congress, let them earn them by growing their citizen population, not by padding their numbers with visitors.
- Cut off subsidies for illegals—no housing, debit cards, tuition breaks, or free medical care—benefits denied to many citizens. Cut them off, and most will self-deport.
- Hold companies accountable that knowingly hire illegal aliens. The penalties must outweigh the savings from cheap wages and unpaid overtime.
- Prioritize deportation. Start with felons, then misdemeanants, then those who riot and attack our institutions. America has enough of its own lawbreakers—we don’t need to import more. Citizens should never be forced to yield their neighborhoods and schools to them.
- Tighten the rules for temporary visas so that students, guest workers, and other short-term entrants remain just that—temporary—and are never allowed to morph into a permanent political bloc that dilutes the voice of citizens.
- Prioritize legal immigration. America should welcome those who follow the rules, bring needed skills, and want to become citizens. Immigration policy must serve the nation’s interests, not a free-for-all that dilutes citizenship itself.
A nation that counts foreigners to shape its Congress betrays its citizens. Every seat gained by counting non-citizens robs Americans of rightful representation. The political class knows it, and Democrats exploit it while Republicans look the other way. Meanwhile, citizens see their votes diluted, taxes drained, and communities transformed without consent. This is not self-government, it is manipulation. If we still believe in the consent of the governed, the line is drawn here: House apportionment must be for citizens only or America no longer belongs to its people.