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Former President Donald Trump is reigniting a political firestorm—this time over who gets counted in America’s most critical headcount.
In a dramatic move that could redraw the political map, the Trump administration is preparing to exclude illegal immigrants from the U.S. census, a decision that could drastically impact congressional seats, Electoral College votes, and billions in federal funding.
Rather than reintroducing the controversial citizenship question that failed in 2020, Trump’s team plans to sidestep the courts using federal agency data to identify and remove undocumented immigrants from the apportionment numbers.
“We’re going to clean up the census and make sure that illegal aliens are not counted,” said Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy.
The implications are massive: If applied to the 2010 census, California could have lost 3 House seats, while red states like Louisiana, Missouri, and North Carolina would have gained representation. Critics argue the current system unfairly benefits deep-blue states, inflating their power by counting people who aren’t legally allowed to vote.
Republicans in Congress are already moving. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) has revived the Equal Representation Act, demanding that only citizens be counted for congressional representation. The bill faces a steep climb but has energized GOP leaders like Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who insists, “American citizens’ representation in Congress should not be determined by individuals who are not citizens of the United States.”
Legal battles are also heating up. Four GOP-led states—Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, and West Virginia—have launched lawsuits against the Biden-era Commerce Department, accusing it of rigging representation in favor of Democrats by counting undocumented immigrants. That case is currently paused as Trump’s legal team gears up for a showdown.
The Supreme Court dodged the issue in 2020. But now, with a stronger legal foundation and Trump back in charge, this controversial plan could become a reality—and it could reshape the balance of power in Washington for decades.
