The Trump administration is proposing major changes to the 2030 census that would exclude illegal immigrants and some other noncitizens from population totals used to determine representation in Congress.
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Under a proposed Census Bureau rule released Wednesday, the government would revise its definition of a person’s “usual residence,” the standard used to determine where people are counted. The proposal says a person’s usual residence would be where the individual has “lawfully spent the greatest number of days” during the census enumeration period.
The change could have significant consequences for congressional apportionment because census population totals determine how the 435 House seats are divided among the states. Census data also play a central role in redistricting and the distribution of federal funding.
Under existing Census Bureau practice, noncitizens living in the United States are counted regardless of their immigration status. The longstanding “usual residence” standard generally counts people where they live and sleep most of the time, rather than according to citizenship or legal residence.
The administration’s proposal would count lawful permanent residents while potentially excluding illegal immigrants and some people legally in the country under temporary immigration classifications.
The bureau is considering using federal records, including information from the departments of Homeland Security, Treasury and State, to determine immigration status.
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The proposal also calls for removing race and ethnicity questions from the short-form census and other questionnaires used to enumerate the population. That would reverse previous plans for the 2030 census, which included implementing updated federal standards for collecting race and ethnicity information.
The administration’s immigration proposal is likely to face legal challenges. The 14th Amendment states that House representation must be apportioned based on the “whole number of persons in each State,” language opponents argue requires residents to be counted regardless of citizenship.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, has already indicated she is considering legal action against the proposal.
The Trump administration argues that people who are in the country illegally lack the necessary ties to qualify as usual residents for apportionment purposes.
The proposal is not yet final, and planning for the 2030 census remains underway.
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