President Trump on Thursday ordered a rare mid-decade census to exclude illegal immigrants from the count, calling for a more accurate population tally as battles over redrawing congressional districts intensify.
“I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,” Trump announced on Truth Social. “People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS.”
Federal census policy has traditionally counted all residents regardless of legal status, with the data used to divide up the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Redistricting follows each decennial census, but mid-decade counts have occurred in rare cases.
Trump previously sought to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census but dropped the effort after legal challenges. That census later showed major discrepancies, with undercounts in red states like Texas, Florida, and Arkansas, and overcounts in several blue states including New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
Following the 2020 census, congressional seats shifted: Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas gained representation, while California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia lost seats.
