Overview

• President Trump directed the Commerce Department to conduct an off-cycle census excluding individuals in the country illegally and incorporating data from the 2024 election.
• The Constitution’s Article I and the 14th Amendment mandate a decennial count of all residents, regardless of immigration status.
• Civil rights advocates and constitutional scholars warn that the unprecedented mid-decade census order will face immediate court challenges.
• Excluding an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants could cost California, Texas and Florida one congressional seat each and alter Electoral College allocations.
• Census data guide about $2.8 trillion in annual federal funding, so excluding undocumented immigrants could divert resources from communities with large immigrant populations.