President Trump Orders Major Census Overhaul, Aims to Exclude Undocumented Residents
President Trump Orders Major Census Overhaul, Aims to Exclude Undocumented Residents
President Trump announced sweeping directives Thursday for a “new” U.S. census, instructing his administration to begin work on an unprecedented exclusion of millions of people living in the country without legal status from future population counts.
The move, detailed in a social media post, introduces significant uncertainty regarding the traditionally scheduled 2030 census and raises immediate questions about its constitutionality. The 14th Amendment mandates the inclusion of the “whole number of persons in each state” for determining congressional representation and Electoral College votes.
Trump stated he has directed the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, to “immediately begin work” on this new census, puzzlingly citing “the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024” as a basis. Neither the White House, Commerce Department, nor the Census Bureau have yet responded to requests for comment.
This latest push echoes similar efforts during Trump’s first term to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which were ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court. While the Court did not rule on the legality of excluding undocumented individuals from apportionment counts, former President Joe Biden’s 2021 executive order affirmed their inclusion – an order Trump revoked on the first day of his second term.
Experts warn that excluding non-citizens could lead to substantial inaccuracies in population data, deter participation among immigrant and Latino communities, and significantly alter the distribution of federal funding and political power. The directive is widely expected to trigger immediate legal challenges, setting the stage for another major constitutional battle over the nation’s decennial headcount.
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