'Most Americans are still unaware': Musk notes that illegal immigrant population impacts number of House seats each state has

Business tycoon Elon Musk highlighted that the illegal immigrant population in each state counts toward determining the number of seats the state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Most Americans are still unaware that the census counts ALL people, including illegal immigrants, for deciding how many House seats each state gets! This results in Dem states getting roughly 20 more House seats, which is another strong incentive for them not to deport illegals," Musk tweeted.

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky responded to Musk, pointing that this in turn has an impact on the number of electoral votes each state has in presidential elections.

"And House seats determine how many votes each state has in the electoral college. So although illegal aliens don't vote, they can determine the outcome of Presidential races. Kentucky has 6 representatives, but California likely has 6 extra seats due to illegal immigration!" Massie wrote.

"Exactly," Musk responded.

The number of electoral votes each state gets in a presidential election is equal to the number of House and Senate seats the state has.

The U.S. Census Bureau explains that, "Apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 memberships, or seats, in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the apportionment population counts from the decennial census."

"The apportionment population count for each of the 50 states includes the state's total resident population plus a count of the overseas federal employees (and their dependents living with them overseas) who have that state listed as their home state in their employers' administrative records," the Census Bureau notes.

Regarding whether "unauthorized immigrants" factor in to the resident population counts, the Census Bureau notes, "Yes, all people (citizens and noncitizens) with a usual residence in the United States are included in the resident population for the census."

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