US President Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Commerce to begin work on a new census that excludes undocumented immigrants, marking a renewed push to redraw electoral maps in favor of Republicans and reduce the political power of Democratic-leaning voters.
Announcing the move on Truth Social, Trump declared that “people who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS,” adding that the updated census should be “highly accurate” and based on data from the 2024 presidential election.
The U.S. Constitution mandates a national census every ten years to count all residents, determining congressional representation and allocation of federal funding. The 14th Amendment requires counting the “whole number of persons in each State.” Excluding undocumented immigrants could alter the number of House seats in states like California, Texas, and Florida—home to about 42% of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump’s order comes amid growing pressure on Republicans to redraw congressional districts. In Texas, Democrats have fled to other states to block a GOP-backed redistricting plan that could give Republicans five more seats. Trump, in a recent interview, claimed victory in Texas and criticized what he called gerrymandering in states like California.
Excluding undocumented immigrants from the census is not a new idea for Trump. During his first term, he attempted to add a citizenship question and issued a memo to remove undocumented individuals from the population count used for apportionment. Both efforts were blocked or delayed by the courts.
Former US President Joe Biden reversed those orders upon taking office, reaffirming that all residents—regardless of immigration status—should be counted. Trump has now reversed that policy after returning to the White House in January.
Meanwhile, some Republican lawmakers have proposed legislation to count only U.S. citizens for House apportionment. A legal challenge filed by four GOP state attorneys in January was paused in March, as Trump administration lawyers requested more time to evaluate their approach.
If implemented, the exclusion could significantly shift political representation and funding away from diverse, immigrant-heavy states—intensifying debates over fairness, legality, and the future of American democracy.
