Overview

• President Trump instructed the Commerce Department to create a new census methodology that omits migrants without legal status from population counts.
• Legal scholars warn the U.S. Constitution requires counting every resident and only Congress can change census rules, challenging the president’s authority.
• The Commerce Department and Census Bureau have begun work on revised procedures despite questions over the legality of a unilateral executive order.
• Republican lawmakers in states like Missouri and Indiana are poised to use any altered data to redraw congressional districts before the 2026 midterm elections.
• Democratic-leaning cities with large undocumented populations, such as Los Angeles and New York, could lose seats and billions in federal funding if the plan proceeds