Trump calls for new census excluding undocumented immigrants

Former President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he has directed the Commerce Department to conduct a new census that excludes undocumented immigrants from the official population count.

Posting on Truth Social, Trump said the new count would reflect “modern-day facts and figures,” incorporating “information gained from the 2024 Presidential Election.” He stated that “people who are in our country illegally will not be counted.”

This move breaks from long-standing U.S. tradition and the 14th Amendment, which requires the census to count the “whole number of persons” living in the country, regardless of immigration status. The 2020 census was widely considered accurate, with no major issues reported.

Trump’s plan aligns with a conservative push to prevent undocumented immigrants from impacting congressional representation and electoral college apportionment. Critics on the right argue that states like California benefit unfairly from including non-citizens in population counts. For example, activist Charlie Kirk claimed in 2020 that California gains nine extra electoral votes due to counting undocumented residents.

Since census data is used to determine political representation and allocate federal funding for services like education and healthcare, excluding non-citizens could lead to major losses in influence and resources for states with large immigrant populations, such as California, Texas, Florida, and New York.

Advocates for immigrants warn the plan would discourage participation not just among undocumented individuals but also among legal immigrants, many of whom already avoid government contact due to fear or mistrust. This could worsen the undercount problem and skew national data.

The Census Bureau found the 2020 census to be statistically accurate, with a tiny error rate of -0.24%, and a 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office confirmed there was no significant net error in the national count.

Despite this, Republican lawmakers continue to push for changes. In June 2025, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) reintroduced the Equal Representation Act, which would restrict census counts to citizens only and require a citizenship question on future forms. The bill has 18 Republican co-sponsors.

“It is unacceptable that illegal immigrants and non-citizens are used to determine congressional districts and the electoral map,” Hagerty said.

Efforts to implement a similar policy during Trump’s first term in 2019 were blocked by the courts and later reversed by President Biden in 2021. The Supreme Court ruled that the attempt was premature and lacked legal justification.

Meanwhile, the 2030 census is expected to expand racial categories. The Biden administration has approved the addition of a “Middle Eastern or North African” category — the first major classification change in over 40 years.

Trump’s latest directive is part of a broader immigration crackdown under his administration. The government has proposed deporting 1 million undocumented immigrants annually and has reportedly set daily arrest targets between 1,200 and 1,500.

As of 2022, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that around 11 million undocumented immigrants were living in the U.S.

Source: The Guardian