Trump Pushes for Census Overhaul to Exclude Illegal Immigrants

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he intends to overhaul the U.S. Census to exclude individuals living in the country illegally; a move that would likely face constitutional challenges. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said he had “instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures.”

The census, held every 10 years, is meant to count every person residing in the United States, regardless of citizenship status. The last census was conducted in 2020, and it remains unclear whether Trump is ordering an immediate recount or planning changes for the 2030 Census. Neither the White House nor the Census Bureau commented on his remarks. Trump said the new count would use “results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024” and would not include “people who are in our Country illegally.”

The proposal ties into Trump’s broader push on redistricting, the process of determining congressional representation and allocating billions in federal funding. The Constitution requires the census to determine the number of House seats each state receives. Trump has backed efforts in Texas to redraw congressional maps mid-decade, claiming Republicans there are “entitled” to five more seats based on his 2024 election results. The move has prompted Democrats to threaten their own redistricting in solidly blue states such as California.

Excluding illegal immigrants could reduce representation for states with large immigrant populations, though some red states might lose seats as well. A 2020 Pew Research Center study found that removing undocumented immigrants from the count would cost California, Florida, and Texas each one House seat, while Alabama, Minnesota, and Ohio would retain seats they would otherwise lose.

This is not Trump’s first attempt to alter the census. During his first term, his administration tried to remove undocumented immigrants from the count and add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census; a plan blocked by the Supreme Court in 2019, which said the administration’s reasoning was “contrived.” At the time, Trump called the ruling “totally ridiculous” and explored delaying the count.

Trump and other conservatives have long argued that leftists use an open-border policy to bolster their ranks by adding voters to the Democratic base through illegal immigration.

The 2020 Census, costing more than $13 billion, was affected by the pandemic and, according to the Census Bureau, undercounted Hispanics, Blacks, and other minorities while overcounting Whites and Asians. The Constitution and the 14th Amendment require states to count “the whole number of persons in each State,” making any attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants ripe for legal challenge.

While Congress, which codified census procedures in the 1950s, might need to be involved, a drawn-out political and legal fight is still possible. Trump has yet to nominate a permanent Census Bureau director after the resignation of Robert Santos earlier this year, with Ron S. Jarmin currently serving in an acting role. Even if a new census does not occur during his term, Trump will influence the 2030 count, as the questions must be finalized two years before it takes place; well before he leaves office in 2029.