Trump’s New Census Rules Will Exclude Undocumented Immigrants

Topline

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he’s ordered the Department of Commerce to change how it conducts the decennial census, pushing to no longer include undocumented immigrants in its count of U.S. residents.

Close-up of a letter from the census bureau regarding the 2020 census.

Gado via Getty Images

Key Facts

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the commerce department has been ordered to start working on a “new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures” that will not count “People who are in our Country illegally.”

The census, which takes place every 10 years and is constitutionally mandated, counts all people living in the United States, including citizens and non-citizens, whether they are in the country legally or not.

The census data is used for various purposes including deciding the number of U.S. Representatives each state gets, drawing electoral district boundaries and allocating government resources.

The next census is scheduled for 2030.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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Key Background

Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution establishes how representatives are allocated for the U.S. House and calls for a census every 10 years to determine the population of each state. Non-citizens have never been excluded from the count, whether they are legal residents or not. In his first term, Trump tried to add a question about citizenship to the census with the goal of ultimately excluding undocumented immigrants from the count deciding how many representatives each state gets, but the Supreme Court blocked the move. The attempt was slammed by critics who said it would lead to underrepresentation for certain states and discourage people from participating in the census. Researchers found that noncitizens who pay taxes but are ineligible to have a Social Security number would be less likely to fill out the census questionnaire, exacerbating undercounts of some groups. After the Supreme Court ruling, Trump instead issued a memorandum demanding “illegal aliens” be excluded from apportionment and put out an executive order telling government agencies to produce “administrative records” to determine the number of non-citizens, but President Joe Biden revoked both of those decisions before the 2020 census data was released.

What Information Does The Census Gather?

The census gathers demographic data on people’s age, sex, race, ethnicity, marital status and household composition. It also asks about employment status, occupation and level of education, and about housing units, occupancy status, number of rooms and rent prices. Questions on birth, place of residence and migration patterns help track population movement.

What Is The Census Used For?

Lots of things. Most notably, it finds how many people live in each state and that number is used to determine how many representatives each state gets in the U.S. House. The results are also sent to state legislatures and redistricting commissions to adjust or redraw electoral districts based on where populations have shifted. Billions of dollars in federal funding is allocated based on the results of the census, including through programs like Medicaid, Head Start and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. The data also informs decisions on where to build hospitals and schools, and how to allocate public safety services like those provided by police and fire departments. The census is used by private business owners looking to make decisions based on where to open new storefronts, where to recruit employees and what services to offer.

What Would Change If Undocumented Immigrants Were Not Longer Counted?

How many representatives each state has. The Pew Research Center used government records to analyze what states would be impacted back when Trump first floated this idea, and found California, Florida and Texas would each have one less seat than they would have been awarded based on population change alone. Alabama, Minnesota and Ohio would each have held onto a seat they otherwise would have lost.

What To Watch For

Lawsuits. Trump’s first attempt to change how immigrants were counted was swiftly met with court action, including from the the American Civil Liberties Union and several immigrants’ rights groups. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled the Trump couldn’t add the citizenship question, largely on procedural grounds.