In the latest episode of conservative panic politics, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay Town, went on Fox Report to sound an alarm about what he calls a “swelling” of Democrats in the Electoral College, supposedly caused by illegal immigrants.
Town's claim, delivered without any supporting data or legal clarity, is yet another example of the right-wing echo chamber manufacturing outrage to justify its slipping grip on national power. Without a shred of direct evidence showing that undocumented immigrants are voting, let alone influencing the Electoral College, Town’s comments reflect a deeper political anxiety that is increasingly defining Republican messaging — the fear that a more diverse, younger electorate is tilting the balance of American democracy away from them.
Despite Town’s serious tone and legal credentials, his assertion fell flat on substance, drawing criticism even among policy experts who noted that illegal immigrants are counted in the census but not allowed to vote, let alone shift the electoral map through actual ballots.
The reality, inconvenient as it may be to Town and his allies, is that the U.S. Constitution mandates the counting of all persons residing in the country, regardless of immigration status, for the purposes of congressional apportionment.
This means that while undocumented immigrants are counted in the census — as they have been for decades — they are not eligible to vote in federal elections. No serious evidence has been presented that illegal immigrants are showing up at the polls and tipping elections.
In fact, voter fraud of any kind remains extraordinarily rare. Nonetheless, that hasn’t stopped Republican figures from recycling these arguments as political talking points, particularly when their party is facing demographic and electoral headwinds.
The notion that undocumented individuals are secretly inflating Democratic voting power is not only misleading, it’s a deliberate deflection from the GOP’s failure to build a broader coalition of voters in the modern political era.
Rather than adapting to changing demographics and competing for the votes of immigrants' children, young people, and urban professionals, the Republican Party is retreating to conspiracy theories and vague innuendo. Town’s statement, delivered with the confidence of someone presenting hard evidence, was in fact based on nothing more than his personal opinion.
He offered no figures, no analysis, and no legal framework for how undocumented residents could somehow trigger a “swelling” in Electoral College strength for Democrats. What he did offer was a classic example of right-wing scapegoating — an old story dressed up as a new warning.
It’s the same strategy that has characterized Republican rhetoric for years, from Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in 2020 to GOP state legislators pushing voter ID laws in districts where there’s been no sign of abuse. It’s not about real threats. It’s about protecting political power.
For decades, both parties accepted that the census would count all residents, because all residents, whether they vote or not, are part of communities that require schools, roads, emergency services, and representation in Congress.
But in the post-Trump era, Republicans have increasingly viewed the census as a battleground in the broader war over political legitimacy. Rather than working to win over communities with growing immigrant populations, they’ve chosen to discredit the systems that reflect those communities' existence.
Jay Town's remarks are just another step in this strategy. By framing undocumented immigrants as phantom voters warping the Electoral College, Republicans can continue to erode trust in the census, in elections, and in democratic outcomes they don’t like. It’s no longer about expanding their tent. It’s about denying others a seat.
This tactic, though politically convenient, is not grounded in constitutional law or reality. The census clause in Article I, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution requires that every “person” be counted — not every citizen, not every voter, but every person.
The 14th Amendment reinforces this by stating that representation in Congress shall be apportioned among the states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state. This has never been interpreted to exclude undocumented immigrants.
Yet for political operatives like Town, constitutional interpretation seems less important than narrative control. The purpose isn’t to clarify how representation works; it’s to create a false perception that Democrats are cheating by benefiting from population growth in immigrant-heavy areas.
The irony, of course, is that many of these same areas also include millions of legal citizens, naturalized immigrants, and American-born children of undocumented parents — all of whom are voters, all of whom will be heard, and none of whom are going away.
In accusing Democrats of benefiting unfairly from census totals that include undocumented immigrants, Town and others are essentially criticizing population growth itself. Their message is that if Democrats are becoming stronger in the Electoral College, it must be because of some illicit scheme — not because they’re appealing to more people, not because the country is evolving, but because something unnatural is happening.
This notion is not only factually incorrect but also steeped in xenophobic undertones. It ignores the vast and legitimate citizen voter bases in places like California, Texas, New York, and Illinois, where Latino and immigrant communities have helped power Democratic victories.
It dismisses the real work of organizing, coalition-building, and policy advocacy that Democrats have done to earn support among voters of color. It even discounts the agency of those voters themselves — implying that their voices only count because someone else inflated the numbers. That’s not just wrong. It’s offensive.
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to push gerrymandering, voter roll purges, and restrictive voting laws that disproportionately affect Black, Latino, and young voters. In states like Georgia, Florida, and Texas, GOP-controlled legislatures are not trying to compete for these voters — they’re trying to silence them.
That makes accusations like Town’s all the more hypocritical. Republicans say they care about election integrity, yet their strategy is built on narrowing the electorate and spreading misinformation. They decry the influence of non-citizens, yet oppose policies like automatic voter registration and voting access reforms that would further secure the system and clarify eligibility.
Their fear isn’t that non-citizens are voting — it’s that the people who are voting don’t support them anymore.
This fear is rooted in numbers that are very real — not the imagined numbers Town invoked, but the undeniable demographic shifts reshaping American politics. According to the Census Bureau, younger generations are more racially and ethnically diverse than ever.
Millennials and Gen Z are on track to become the largest bloc of eligible voters, and their political leanings have shown a consistent preference for Democratic candidates. Urban and suburban areas continue to expand, with rising numbers of Latino, Black, Asian American, and immigrant residents.
If the Electoral College is becoming more favorable to Democrats, it’s not because of illegal immigrants padding the census. It’s because the electorate is changing — legally, legitimately, and inexorably.
Rather than facing this reality, Republicans like Jay Town are manufacturing narratives to explain away their shrinking relevance. They’re projecting their own political losses onto people who can’t vote, can’t participate, and have no power to influence elections — but are easy to blame.
It’s a strategy that’s cynical, transparent, and increasingly detached from the electorate’s lived experience. American voters, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds, see these attacks for what they are — an attempt to marginalize their communities and undermine their political power. And they are responding not by hiding, but by organizing, running for office, and voting in record numbers.
The truth is simple. Undocumented immigrants do not vote. They are not registered. They are not receiving ballots. The idea that their presence on the census rolls is part of a grand Democratic scheme is not just false — it’s laughable.
But it reveals something important about the Republican mindset. They aren’t preparing for the future. They’re trying to delay it. They aren’t building bridges to new voters. They’re throwing up walls — literal and figurative. And in doing so, they’re alienating the very people they need to survive as a national party.
Jay Town’s remarks should be seen for what they are — an act of political theater, not legal analysis. They offer no solutions, only suspicion. No facts, only fear. And while the GOP clings to these hollow narratives, Democrats are expanding their reach, investing in grassroots infrastructure, and speaking to the issues that matter most to a changing nation.
Immigration, healthcare, voting rights, education, climate, racial justice — these are the priorities driving the new electorate, and these are the conversations Democrats are willing to have. Republicans, on the other hand, are still stuck in 2016, trying to win elections by demonizing those who haven’t even entered the voting booth.
The next time Jay Town wants to lecture the nation about who’s influencing the Electoral College, he should come prepared with data — not just dog whistles. Because in the end, the American people know the difference between truth and fearmongering. They know that representation comes from being counted — but power comes from being heard. And they’re making themselves heard, one legal vote at a time.
