Illegal aliens still in the United States following President Donald Trump’s campaign to secure the nation’s borders and remove those living in the country without permission have representation in Congress.
It’s because they’ve been counted in previous Census procedures, and the membership of the U.S. House is based on those numbers.
Trump wants that changed, and a report at Politico explains he’s begun an overhaul of Census processes that would accomplish that.
The administration’s plan would include procedures to exclude illegal aliens from population totals that are used not only for political representation but also for allocation of federal monies.
Additionally, he’s proposing to drop questions about respondents’ race and ethnicity.
His plan also excludes some immigrants who are legally in the country but do not have lawful permanent resident status, a potentially significant expansion beyond Trump’s previous attempts to remove undocumented immigrants from the population count, the report confirmed.
Trump administration proposes dramatic overhaul of 2030 census that changes who counts as living in America — and what we know about them https://t.co/M8fvy3TwAt
— POLITICO (@politico) September 9, 2026
Trump Admin Officially Moves to Reshape National Political Power With New Changes to 2030 Census https://t.co/H1KX4gbV7e
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) September 9, 2026
Politico suggested the changes would have “enormous political consequences” if they are made, and used, for the coming 2030 count.
“Census results determine how the 435 seats in the House are apportioned among states and form the basis for redrawing congressional maps. Race and ethnicity data collected through the census are also used to produce population data states receive for redistricting and to help enforce the Voting Rights Act and other civil rights laws,” the report said.
“The proposal would mark a fundamental change in how the government determines who counts as part of a state’s population. The 14th Amendment calls for House seats to be apportioned by ‘counting the whole number of persons in each State,’ rather than citizens, and for more than two centuries the census has generally relied on where a person lives to determine that count, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status,” the report said.
The bureau now is arguing that illegal aliens should not qualify as usual residents because they lack “a sufficient tie and allegiance” to America.
Trump worked on the problem of illegal aliens during his first term, and has renewed efforts during this, his second.
He had wanted to exclude illegal aliens from House apportionment during the 2020 count, but the fact that Joe Biden took up occupancy in the Oval Office at that election, and the fact the count was delayed by the COVID-19 China virus pandemic, affected that.
Leftists already are opposing the plan, with New York Attorney General Letitia James promising yet another legal action against the Trump administration.
