Research/Study
Right-wing media spout “great replacement” conspiracy theory after Senate Democrats reject amendment excluding noncitizens from census count
The overwhelming majority of recent noncitizen population growth has occurred in red states, but right-wing media still insist that Democrats are weaponizing immigration for their own electoral advantage
Published
Right-wing media keep speculating that Democrats want an “open border” to increase population in areas they supposedly control -- and thus their House seats and Electoral College apportionment -- following the party's refusal to support a Republican amendment in the Senate that would exclude noncitizen immigrants from being counted for apportionment in the U.S. census. But data shows that an overwhelming majority of noncitizen population growth has occurred in red states. Their speculation alludes to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory, a white nationalist belief that mass migration is being used to decrease the share of white people in the total population, to Democrats’ electoral advantage.