US President Donald Trump. (Scott Olson/GettyImages) (Representative Image)
The Trump administration has floated a sweeping redesign of the American decennial census that would drop millions of immigrants from the count along with questions on race and ethnicity, with implications for federal resource allocation and the drawing of political power.
Announced on Wednesday (9 September), the proposals would keep out undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers and others lacking permanent status, while removing several demographic questions from the standard form.
The plan follows Trump's earlier push to insert a citizenship question into the 2030 exercise.
Writing on the Federal Register website, the US Census Bureau said "illegal aliens (among others) should not be included in the apportionment count, as they are not true inhabitants, members of the body politic, or persons with a 'usual residence' in the United States due to their lack of a sufficient tie and allegiance to the United States."
The agency added that the count "should be colorblind and should not be distorted in any way by questions about immaterial personal characteristics, such as race." Questions concerning LGBTQ+ identity are also under review for removal.
Race questions have featured in the count since 1790, and 33.8 million Americans reported more than one race in 2020.
Manjusha Kulkarni of AAPI Equity Alliance said the move strips lawmakers, doctors and advocates of data needed "to keep us safe and healthy".
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