Census Bureau Proposes Cutting Noncitizens and Race Questions From 2030 Count

The Census Bureau wants to change who counts, literally, before the 2030 census. On September 10, 2026, the Bureau published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would exclude noncitizens without green cards, including undocumented immigrants and lawfully present immigrants who lack lawful permanent resident status, from the population count used to divide up the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, according to KFF.

The same proposal would eliminate questions on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from the decennial census entirely, the first time that's happened since the census began in 1790, per KFF. The Bureau's stated reasoning, cited by the Daily Wire, is a "reduced need for or usefulness of this information."

The rule would also redefine "usual residence," the standard the census uses to decide where someone lives. Instead of the 2020 standard, where someone lives and sleeps most of the time, the new definition would tie residence to tax records, according to Talking Points Memo. A draft of the 2026 IRS Form 1040 reviewed by TPM adds a citizenship and work-authorization question for the first time in that form's history, asking filers to check yes or no on whether they're a citizen, national, or lawfully authorized worker.

TPM also reported internal Treasury-Commerce deliberations showing Treasury officials initially pushed back on Commerce's plan to rely almost exclusively on tax records to determine residence, citing data quality concerns, before the IRS draft form suggested Treasury found a way to comply anyway.

Two different tracks, same goal

The Census Bureau's own rule is an executive-branch regulatory action moving through the Federal Register comment process. Separately, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., is introducing legislation called the Make Apportionment Great Again Act, first reported by Fox News, which would go further by counting only citizens for apportionment purposes and forcing states to use existing records to reapportion seats by 2027, without waiting for a new census. Clyde's bill would also add a citizenship question to the 2030 census form.

Both tracks point the same direction. President Trump laid out his goal in an August 2025 Truth Social post, quoted by the Daily Wire: "People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS." He directed the Commerce Department to begin work on a new census "based on modern day facts and figures."

A 2024 Center for Immigration Studies report, cited by Fox News, found immigrants produced a net increase of 14 House seats in Democrat-leaning states and 10 fewer seats than Republican states would otherwise have had. California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois have the largest illegal immigrant populations, according to Pew Research data cited by the Daily Wire, meaning those states stand to lose the most representation if either proposal takes effect.

The constitutional fight, round two

New York Attorney General Letitia James and City Council Speaker Julie Menin are already gearing up for a legal battle. James, who led the successful 2019 lawsuit that blocked the first Trump administration's attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, wrote on X that her office is "exploring" legal options and called the new plan unconstitutional. Menin made the same argument in a joint statement with James, pointing to the Fourteenth Amendment's requirement to count "the whole number of persons in each State."

The opposition's case centers on the Constitution's text, which doesn't carve out citizenship status when it comes to apportionment, and the census has counted every resident regardless of status since 1790, per KFF. The 2019 Supreme Court case James cites blocked a citizenship question on procedural grounds under federal administrative law rather than ruling on the broader constitutional question of who must be counted for apportionment, so the underlying legal question raised by this new rule hasn't been definitively settled by the courts.

Supporters of the change counter that apportionment exists to represent citizens who can actually vote, and that letting noncitizens, especially those here illegally, inflate a state's congressional delegation and Electoral College votes dilutes the political power of citizens elsewhere. Both the Bureau's rule and Clyde's bill rest on this argument, even though neither Fox News nor the Daily Wire sourcing in this proposal spells out a specific constitutional theory beyond Trump's stated preference.

The public comment period on the Census Bureau's rule runs through October 13, 2026. After that, the Bureau is required to review and respond to comments before issuing a final rule, according to KFF, which also notes a change in presidential administration before 2030 could affect whether any of this ever gets implemented. If the rule is finalized, expect the lawsuit from James's office within days, not weeks.