Missouri – A single seat in Congress can change how much political influence a state holds for an entire decade. Missouri’s attorney general believes the way the federal government counts certain immigrants has already cost her state that opportunity.
Now, Catherine Hanaway is joining forces with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and 20 other states to push for a major change before the next national census.
On October 30, Hanaway announced that the 22-state coalition had submitted its support for a proposed federal rule that would exclude people living unlawfully in the United States, along with certain temporary foreign residents, from the population figures used to distribute seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The effort centers on proposed changes introduced by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau.
Under the proposal, congressional apportionment would be based on U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents rather than everyone physically residing in the country.
For Missouri, the dispute is about more than immigration policy. Hanaway argues that the current approach gives some states additional political influence while leaving others with less representation than they deserve.
“Election integrity requires fair representation based on the American people—not political power gained by counting illegal immigrants and temporary foreign visitors,” Hanaway said.
“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 regulations, published in the Federal Register on September 10, would revise how the Census Bureau determines a person’s usual residence for congressional apportionment.
The changes would include citizens and green card holders while excluding immigrants without lawful status and foreign nationals whose legal permission to remain in the country is temporary.
The proposal also raises the possibility of collecting additional information about citizenship and permanent residency during the decennial census.
Hanaway and the other attorneys general want that information gathered directly from households beginning in 2030. Their recommendation would require respondents to identify whether each person is a U.S. citizen and, if not, whether that individual holds lawful permanent resident status.
The coalition argues that these questions would produce a more accurate population count for determining congressional representation.
Missouri officials have also offered figures to explain why they believe the change matters.
According to an expert retained by the state in connection with an earlier lawsuit against the Census Bureau, California received three additional seats in Congress and three additional Electoral College votes following the 2020 Census because immigrants without legal status were included in the apportionment population.
The same analysis concluded that Missouri would have received one additional congressional seat and electoral vote under a count excluding those immigrants.
These figures represent the state’s expert analysis, not an official finding by the Census Bureau.
The broader legal dispute involves the Constitution’s requirement that congressional seats be allocated according to the whole number of persons in each state. The proposed federal rule would adopt a different interpretation of which residents qualify for that calculation.
Besides Missouri and Kansas, the coalition includes 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.
The Census Bureau’s public comment period, originally scheduled to end October 13, was extended through November 2, 2026. The proposal has not yet become a final rule.
Hanaway welcomed the Trump administration’s initiative and made clear that Missouri intends to continue pursuing the issue.
“States should not receive additional congressional representation as a reward for encouraging illegal immigration,” she said.
The outcome could influence how congressional seats are distributed after the 2030 Census, making the federal government’s next decision significant for Missouri and every other state competing for representation in Washington.
