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President Trump has ordered a new census that will exclude illegal aliens from the final tally, amid rumblings of congressional redistricting that could favor Republicans heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
“I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning.
A tabulation of the population, every ten years, is mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3, also called the “Enumeration Clause” or “Census Clause.”
“People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump continued.
According to the U.S. Census website, the decennial operation “is designed to count every resident in the United States.”
“The census tells us who we are and where we are going as a nation, and helps our communities determine where to build everything from schools to supermarkets, and from homes to hospitals,” the site reads.
Importantly, the U.S. Census is a key part in determining congressional seat reapportionments and drawing legislative district lines.
According to CBS, the Texas GOP is fighting to redistrict its state, which could result in five more Republican seats in the U.S. House. However, as the GOP fights to redraw congressional lines, especially amid a Trump-led push to get an accurate headcount on every legal citizen in the U.S., blue states like California are racing to solidify Democrat district control.
Redistricting efforts have already begun in the Golden State, as Democrats hope to redraw congressional lines to gain as many as five new seats in Congress, Politico reported. However, California Rep. Kevin Kiley (R) has introduced a bill aimed at prohibiting redistricting between decennial censuses, per the outlet.
Regardless, the U.S. Census is the crux upon which congressional apportionment hinges for both parties. According to a survey from the Pew Research Center in 2020, if illegal migrants were removed from the U.S. Census, California could lose two House seats.
However, reapportionment could ultimately yield the following:
“California would lose two seats instead of one, Florida would gain one instead of two, and Texas would gain two instead of three, according to analysis based on projections…Alabama, Minnesota and Ohio would each hold onto a seat that they would have lost if apportionment were based only on total population change.”
