House Republicans say the census question is necessary due to the number of illegal immigrants who have come to the U.S. on President Biden's watch. (Photo by Randee Daddona/Newsday RM via Getty Images/Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
"Though commonsense dictates that only citizens should be counted for apportionment purposes, illegal aliens have nonetheless recently been counted toward the final tallies that determine how many House seats each state is allocated and the number of electoral votes it will wield in presidential elections," Edwards said during debate on the bill. "And since the illegal alien population is not evenly distributed throughout the nation, American citizens in some states are losing representation in Congress to illegal aliens in other states."
There was some uncertainty over whether the bill would pass given near-uniform opposition from Democrats as well as some Republicans.
Two House GOP aides told Fox News Digital earlier Wednesday that Republican lawmakers in New York and California, as well as several other establishment GOP members had reservations about the bill.
And Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., can afford precious little dissent, overseeing just a one-seat majority in the House.
A majority of House Republicans support the bill, however, citing the record levels of illegal immigrants who have come to the U.S. under President Biden's tenure.
Including a citizenship question on the U.S. census is not a new idea, however – former President Trump tried to have it added before the 2020 census, but it was blocked by the Supreme Court.
One of the Democrats speaking out against the bill ahead of the Wednesday vote was Rep. Nanette Barragan, D-Calif., chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
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Rep. Tim Burchett accused Democrats of opposing the bill because he argued it benefits them to oppose it. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
"You could see why my Democratic colleagues would have a problem with this bill. Factoring illegal aliens into the process skews things in their favor," Burchett said. "If the census does not include the citizenship question, states with more illegal aliens will get more congressional districts and more electoral college votes."
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Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, argued against the bill, "I'm for a whole lot more lawful immigration to America, less unlawful immigration to America…and a lot less demagoguery about who we are as a country."
He later added, "One should be clear that under this legislation, they're roping out of reapportionment not just undocumented people, they're roping out permanent residents…they're talking about disenfranchising from the reapportionment process, millions of people who are lawfully [in the U.S.]."
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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