‘A dangerous political game’: Dems blast María Elvira Salazar for supporting citizenship question on Census

María Elvira Salazar's ambitious Dignity Act could be a godsend to immigrants now living illegally in the United States. Image via Salazar for Congress website.

Republican U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar is catching heat from critics across the political aisle for voting “yes” this week on a bill that would place a citizenship question on the next decennial Census.

Salazar was hardly alone among her Florida GOP peers in voting for the measure (HR 7109), which cleared the U.S. House by a 206-202 vote Wednesday. Nor was she the only one with a large Hispanic constituency; Mario Díaz-Balart and Carlos Giménez, the immediate past Mayor of Miami-Dade County, also voted in the affirmative.

But she is the only Republican member of Congress — aside from Anna Paulina Luna, who didn’t vote on the measure — that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) identified last month as a “district in play” this election cycle.

In a statement Friday, DCCC spokesperson Lauryn Fanguen noted that HR 7109’s dictates clash with the 14th Amendment’s requirement that there be a count of “whole numbers of persons in each state,” not just U.S. citizens.

It also contradicts a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June 2019 that blocked Donald Trump’s administration from adding a similar question to the 2020 Census.

“Instead of working to deliver for hardworking Florida Latinos by lowering costs, expanding health care, or creating good paying jobs, Salazar is choosing to deliberately undercount them — a dangerous political game that could lead to less resources for Florida’s Hispanic communities,” Fanguen said.

Florida Politics contacted Salazar’s Office for comment but received none by press time. Her signature legislative proposal, the “Dignity Act,” would revamp America’s immigration system by allowing undocumented residents to pay their way into permanent residency or citizenship, with much of that money going toward customs and border control.

During the 2020 Census, an estimated 3 million Hispanics living in the United States — 1 in 20 — went uncounted, according to Pew Research. Census analysts have said that a citizenship question would create a “major barrier” to registering an accurate count, since many view it as a tool to find undocumented immigrants and target certain ethnic groups.

The results of the prior undercount are troublesome, according to the Brookings Institute, which estimated Latinos will lose billions of dollars in Medicaid funding, educational resources and nutritional aid. The think tank also said Latino representation in government will suffer shortfalls due to the undercount, which occurred even in the absence of a citizenship question.

Of note, Brookings has pointed to the Dignity Act as a way to strengthen the nation’s Social Security and Medicare solvency. As of this week, more than 30 members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors to the current iteration of the measure.

Florida TaxWatch analysis figures released this week found about 750,000 residents statewide went uncounted in the last census. Florida was one of six states whose populations were undercounted.

The cost that undercount carries? At least $11 billion before the end of the decade, according to the group’s senior research analyst, Meg Canaan, told WSUF.

Every Republican House member from Florida except Luna voted “yes” on HR 7109, and every Democrat voted “no.”

More information about the bill can be viewed here.