President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has directed the Department of Commerce to overhaul the decennial census so it no longer counts undocumented immigrants in the U.S. population.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the department will develop a “new and highly accurate” census that excludes “people who are in our country illegally.”
The U.S. Constitution mandates a nationwide census every 10 years, counting all residents regardless of citizenship or immigration status. Census results determine how many U.S. House seats each state gets, shape electoral district boundaries, and guide the distribution of billions in federal funding. The next census is scheduled for 2030.
Non-citizens—legal or otherwise—have always been included in census counts. During his first term, Trump tried to add a citizenship question to the census and later sought to exclude undocumented immigrants from congressional apportionment, but the Supreme Court blocked the move.
Critics warned that such efforts would cause significant undercounts, particularly in states with large immigrant populations. President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s previous directives before the 2020 census was completed.
Excluding undocumented immigrants could shift political representation. Past analysis by the Pew Research Center suggested California, Florida, and Texas would each lose a seat in Congress, while Alabama, Minnesota, and Ohio would each retain one they were otherwise set to lose.
Legal challenges are expected, mirroring the lawsuits filed during Trump’s earlier attempts to alter the census process.
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