Trump administration proposes census overhaul excluding immigrants, removing race questions

The Trump administration has proposed significant changes to the U.S. national census, aiming to exclude immigrants not considered U.S. citizens or permanent residents, including those on temporary lawful status. This move, submitted by the U.S. Census Bureau, could fundamentally alter how federal funding and political representation are allocated to states, particularly those with large immigrant populations.

The proposal also seeks to remove questions about race or ethnicity from the census questionnaire, a feature that has been included since the first census in 1790. The administration is considering obtaining demographic information from administrative records from agencies like the Departments of Homeland Security, Treasury, and State.

This effort builds on President Donald Trump's previous attempts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count, an initiative that was previously blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court. The administration's broader crackdown on immigration and diversity initiatives is cited as a rationale for the changes. New York Attorney General Letitia James criticized the proposal, stating the Constitution requires counting every person living in the U.S. regardless of immigration status.