Trump Administration Proposes Major Changes to 2030 Census

The Trump administration proposed a major overhaul to the way the U.S. Census is conducted, potentially affecting how seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states.

Under the proposal for the 2030 Census, undocumented immigrants and foreign nationals who are not permanent lawful residents would be excluded from the count used to determine representation in the House.  

The changes were detailed in a proposed rule in the Federal Register from the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Usual Residence” in Focus

The rule would change the definition of a person’s “usual residence” to omit undocumented immigrants from the apportionment count. The Census Bureau says undocumented immigrants should not qualify for the count “due to their lack of a sufficient tie and allegiance to the United States.”  In addition, it says that people whose legal status is “less durable and indefinite” than a green card should also be excluded.

The Census Bureau says it’s still figuring how to decide who would qualify for counting and may use government records to do so.

If enacted, it would be a major change from the 2020 Census, which counted foreign citizens living in the U.S. at their usual residence regardless of immigration status. 

Certain Questions in Doubt

The proposed rule would also restrict which demographic questions could appear on the census form, including questions about race and ethnicity and sexual orientation.

The administration says eliminating such questions would reduce the risk of sharing sensitive information and would encourage more people to participate.

“Reducing response burden is expected to increase response rate and thus improve the Census Bureau's record linkage efforts and also enable the Census Bureau to obtain a more complete population count directly from respondents, which helps ensure fairer political representation,” stated the Census Bureau.

Potential Impact 

Opponents say the potential rule changes could lead to an inaccurate count of people living in the United States, impacting everything from the apportionment of Congressional seats, and possibly the disbursement of federal aid to states. 

“If you don't have a count of everyone who's there, you're not going to have the resources you need,” said Beth Jarosz, a data researcher and vice president of the Association of Public Data Users. “And that puts everybody at risk.”

And Democratic officials are already reviewing legal options. 

“The Constitution is clear. Every person living in the United States, regardless of immigration status, must be counted in the census,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who successfully challenged efforts from the first Trump administration to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 census count. 

Comments on the proposed rule are due on or before October 13, 2026.