The Trump administration has proposed sweeping changes to the 2030 Decennial Census that civil rights organizations and public health advocates warn would exclude millions of people from the count used to allocate congressional seats and federal resources, while stripping demographic data critical to tracking health disparities.
The Census Bureau published the proposed rule in September, opening a public comment period that has been extended through Nov. 2 . If finalized, the changes would take effect for the 2030 count.
The changes would deprive areas that are home to Democratic majorities of seats in Congress, many of which are designed to be prohibitive to a fair fight in any election. It would make fewer places possible to get a Democrat elected.
The proposed changes
The rule would redefine “usual residence” to exclude foreign citizens who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from the final population counts used for congressional apportionment. That would leave out undocumented immigrants as well as refugees, asylum-seekers, and those in the country on temporary work or student visas .
The proposal would also prohibit questions on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from the primary decennial short-form questionnaire.
The administration says the change is intended to keep the main count “colorblind,” though demographic data would still be collected on secondary surveys like the American Community Survey.
Additionally, the plan revives efforts to include a citizenship question on the census form .
The Census Bureau argues that people without sufficient ties of allegiance to the United States should not be considered “true residents” or members of the political community for apportionment purposes .
Critics say the changes violate the Constitution and would have far-reaching consequences.
The 14th Amendment mandates counting the “whole number of persons in each State” for apportionment.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s voting rights project has said the proposal would fundamentally challenge that constitutional text, noting that “the Constitution says ‘person,’ ‘persons,’ or ‘whole number of persons.’ Not citizens” .
Healthcare funding at risk. Federal funding for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and other public health programs relies heavily on census-derived state population data. Undercounting immigrant communities could trigger significant funding drops for states with high immigrant populations .
Civil rights enforcement undermined. Removing race and ethnicity data would eliminate block-level information used to enforce the Voting Rights Act and protect minority voting power during redistricting .
Health disparities research impaired. Public health organizations warn that stripping demographic questions would severely limit the ability to track and address healthcare disparities among racial, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Meeta Anand, senior director of the census and data equity program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said the effort could have “earth-shattering” effects, leaving cities and states with relatively high immigrant populations with insufficient federal aid and political representation .
“You’ll start seeing a very inaccurate picture of our country, and then we’re making political decisions, business decisions, investment decisions based on data that are flawed,” Anand said .
Legal challenges expected
The proposal is likely to face immediate legal challenges. New York Attorney General Letitia James said she is exploring legal options to contest the rule .
Trump attempted a similar maneuver in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Census, but the Supreme Court blocked the citizenship question, ruling the administration’s rationale was “contrived” .
Former Census Bureau officials note that this time the administration is following proper rulemaking procedures, which could make the changes harder for a future administration to reverse quickly.
Census experts say the decennial count is like “a very large ship” — changing direction abruptly is difficult, and much of the groundwork for 2030 is already underway .
How to comment
The public comment period is open through Nov. 2, 2026. Comments can be submitted at Regulations.gov under Docket ID Census Bureau Bureau-2026-0005.
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