How many congressmen were born in another country

1. What reporters mean by “born outside the U.S.”—and why it matters

Different counts exist because sources vary on whether to include people born abroad to U.S. citizen parents, members of nonvoting delegations, or those born in U.S. territories and on military bases, and because membership changes with elections and resignations; Pew’s public method explicitly excludes members born abroad to American parents and those born in U.S. territories, producing a conservative “foreign‑born” count of 18 for the 118th Congress (17 House, 1 Senate) ^[1], while other institutional tallies apply broader or differently timed criteria ^{[4] [3]}.

2. The conservative baseline: Pew’s repeated count of about 18 foreign‑born voting members

Pew Research Center’s analyses for recent Congresses consistently place the number of foreign‑born voting members near 18: for the 117th and 118th Congresses Pew noted 18 foreign‑born voting members (17 in the House, one in the Senate—Mazie Hirono) and reported that immigrants and children of immigrants together numbered many more when parentage is included ^{[2] [1]}. Pew explains methodology and exclusions clearly, making its 18 figure a reliable baseline for discussions that restrict “foreign‑born” to naturalized immigrants rather than children of Americans born abroad ^[1].

3. Broader counts and official directories that push the number higher

Other official or institutional sources produce higher totals for the 119th Congress: a Clerk of the House listing catalogs foreign‑born members of the House for the 119th Congress (illustrated by an entry such as Rep. Becca Balint’s birthplace listed as Germany) ^[5], and the Congress.gov profile of the 119th notes “Twenty‑six Representatives and six Senators” born outside the United States—figures that, if taken at face value, place the foreign‑born total in the 30s for that Congress, though those numbers may include births to American parents, nonvoting delegates, or reflect different snapshot dates ^[3]. Those discrepancies underscore the importance of checking each source’s operational definition.

4. Why the headline number often diverges in media and advocacy pieces

Media lists and advocacy pages have historically produced counts from the high teens to the high 20s—examples include 29 in past cycles—because some outlets count anyone born abroad (including to American parents), mix in nonvoting delegates or past members, or use dated rosters ^{[6] [7]}. The result is multiple plausible—but not identical—answers, each defensible if the inclusion criteria are spelled out.

5. Takeaway: the defensible answer and the caveats

A defensible, narrowly defined answer—excluding persons born abroad to U.S. parents and excluding U.S. territories and military bases—is that about 18 voting members of Congress were born in another country during the 118th Congress, with Pew as the clearest source for that count ^{[1] [2]}. Broader, more inclusive tallies for the 119th Congress and some congressional directories report larger numbers (ranging into the mid‑20s or higher), but those figures reflect different definitions or timing and therefore require careful qualification ^{[4] [3]}.

6. What’s left uncertain and where to look next

This reporting cannot definitively reconcile every published tally because some sources do not publish full methodological details or mark whether births were to American parents or in U.S. territories; readers seeking a single authoritative current total should consult the primary roster documents for the specific Congress (Clerk of the House, Senate directory) and compare methodology notes—Pew provides transparent criteria for its conservative counts and is recommended for comparisons over time ^{[5] [1] [8]}.