Immigrant surge helped boost GOP states’ population, and they may gain US House seats as a result

By: Tim Henderson

Outlets: Stateline

Published: February 11, 2026

Words: 1,498

Last Updated: 1 week, 1 day ago

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The millions of immigrants who have crossed the border with Mexico since 2020 could change the balance of political power in Congress — but in a way likely to boost Republican states that emphasize border security, at the expense of more welcoming Democratic states.

That’s because many of the new immigrants joined state-to-state movers gravitating to the fast-growing conservative strongholds of Florida and Texas, boosting those states’ populations. California and New York also had large …

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