Trump administration proposes excluding non-citizens from Census apportionment

The Trump administration is proposing changes to how the United States Census counts populations for the purpose of congressional apportionment. Currently, the census includes non-citizens, including illegal immigrants, which is used to establish the population baseline for allocating U.S. House seats and Electoral College power among the 50 states.

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) estimates that seventeen U.S. House seats were reallocated between the 2010 and 2020 census due to immigration patterns. CIS reports that approximately 10 million illegal immigrants and 20 million non-citizens responded to the 2020 census.

To address this, the U.S. Census Bureau has proposed a new rule that would exclude non-citizens—including foreign residents and students—from the total count used for apportionment. This measure aims to ensure that only citizens are counted in the reapportionment process for the 2030 census and beyond.