Trump calls for rare mid-decade census to exclude illegal migrants
President Trump has made a controversial move by ordering a rare mid-decade census, excluding illegal immigrants. This decision comes as the battle over redistricting between Republicans and Democrats intensifies.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump stated that he has directed the Department of Commerce to start work on a new census that will not count illegal immigrants. This is a departure from the usual practice where the US Census Bureau includes data from all foreign-born individuals, regardless of their legal status.
The census is crucial for determining the allocation of seats in the House of Representatives. Every ten years, states go through a redistricting process to define the boundaries of their congressional seats based on the census results.
While the Constitution mandates a census every decade, there have been instances of mid-decade counts in the past. Trump’s decision is likely to face legal challenges from Democrats, as previous attempts at mid-decade censuses were authorized by Congress, not by the president alone.
During his first term, Trump tried to add a citizenship question to the census, but it was ultimately withdrawn due to legal issues. The last census in 2020 showed significant undercounts in red states like Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas, while overcounting occurred in blue states.
The redistricting process following the 2020 census resulted in some states gaining seats, such as Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas, while others like California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia lost seats.
With both parties now revisiting redistricting earlier than usual, Trump is looking for ways to maintain the GOP’s slim majority in the House. Recent actions in Texas to reconfigure the congressional map to favor Republicans have sparked a redistricting arms race.
Texas Democrats thwarted the GOP’s plan by leaving the state to prevent the passage of the new map. In response, blue states have threatened to adjust their congressional maps as well. Republicans are considering redistricting in states like Missouri and Indiana, where Vice President JD Vance is set to discuss the issue.
The upcoming midterm elections pose a challenge for the party in power, historically resulting in losses. Trump is eager to avoid this outcome to maintain his influence and prevent Democratic investigations during his final years in office.
