Trump Orders New Census, Declaring Undocumented Migrants ‘WILL NOT BE COUNTED’

President Donald Trump called for a new U.S. Census that would exclude undocumented immigrants in a move that would dramatically reshape political representation and funding across the country.

In a Truth Social post Thursday, Trump said he had instructed the Commerce Department to “immediately” begin work on a “new and highly accurate” census:

I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate CENSUS based on modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024. People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

The Constitution mandates a nationwide census every 10 years to determine how congressional seats are apportioned among the states which the 14th Amendment adds should include the “whole number of persons in each state.”

The push comes during a high-profile clash in Texas in which Republicans are campaigning to redraw electoral maps. Texas Democrats fled the state last week in a dramatic effort to protest the GOP-led redistricting bill, which could carve out up to five new seats for conservatives.

The Supreme Court blocked a citizenship question from the 2020 census during Trump’s first term and declined to rule on whether a president has the authority to exclude undocumented immigrants from apportionment counts, a legal question likely to resurface if Trump’s proposal advances.