President Trump proposes excluding some noncitizens from census — CNBC
In the United States, the administration of President Donald Trump has proposed excluding from the 2030 census noncitizens who do not have permanent resident status. The change could affect the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives and the distribution of federal funding, CNBC reports.
The proposed rule, released in September, provides for excluding from the count millions of people without green cards, including student visa holders, people with temporary protected status, refugees and asylum seekers. The public may submit comments on the document until November 2 — one day before Election Day.
Possible changes to representation
Critics of the initiative, including Democrats in Congress and human rights organizations, believe it contradicts the provisions of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on apportioning representatives among states based on the number of all persons. Mita Anand, senior director for census and data equity at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said the rule would most likely be challenged in court.
Supporters of the change, including some Republicans in Congress, argue that counting all residents of the country encourages illegal immigration and changes the political weight of states. Congressman Andrew Clyde introduced a bill to reapportion congressional seats before the 2028 elections without counting noncitizens and to add a citizenship question to the 2030 census. The document has 42 Republican co-sponsors.
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Questions about status and race data
The proposal states that the Census Bureau is considering using administrative records to verify the legal status of people counted for apportionment. The agency may also add a question about immigration status to the census short-form questionnaire.
In addition, the draft provides for ending the collection of information on race and ethnicity in the short-form questionnaire. Such data are used to monitor compliance with laws prohibiting racial discrimination. Anand believes that a question about immigration status could reduce response rates, while verification using administrative data could result in people with lawful status being wrongly left uncounted.
According to an analysis by The New York Times cited by CNBC, the change could cost Florida, Rhode Island and Texas one House seat each, while Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon could each gain an additional representative. Critics also warn of possible cuts to funding for Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, children's health insurance and Head Start programs.
