Concerns are rising after former President Donald Trump disclosed intentions to alter a major governmental project mandated by the US Constitution.
The 79-year-old made an announcement on Truth Social, informing his followers that he had directed his administration to initiate changes to the Census, which has been in place since its inception in 1790.
“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,” his post stated.
“People who are in our Country illegally WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CENSUS. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Conducted every ten years, the US Census aims to count people and households within particular regions.
The Census serves multiple purposes. Federal and state governments utilize its data to allocate resources to communities, while businesses rely on it to determine optimal expansion locations. Additionally, law enforcement uses the data to ascertain crime rates across different areas.
Health officials also leverage Census information to monitor disease rates and potential outbreaks.
What is the public’s reaction to Trump’s Census announcement?
There is speculation that Trump’s motivation for the Census change is to potentially influence future elections to favor Republicans.
“It is no coincidence that President Trump wants to manipulate the census data at the same time he is pressuring Republican states to gerrymander even more,” stated John Bisognano, president of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“This is a comprehensive campaign to flout the U.S. Constitution in order to predetermine election outcomes so he can consolidate his power and avoid accountability to the American people.”
Meeta Anand, the senior director of census and data equity at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, commented: “To me, that represents an attempt to undermine and sow doubt on existing data and to raise the specter of manipulating data going forward.”
“It’s all part and parcel of the same playbook of telling people not to believe what is existing already and what has been collected and tabulated and reported in accordance with scientific standards and principles, and instead to believe what is being put in front of them without evidence for the purposes of political gain.”
The most recent Census, conducted in 2020, cost taxpayers $13.7 billion.
It determined the US population to be 331,449,281 but did not specify the number of undocumented individuals.
In 2022, the Pew Research Centre reported an estimated 11 million undocumented individuals in the US, down from 12.2 million in 2007.
Following Trump’s post, one individual responded: “I extensively use census data in my job. I figured it was only a matter of time before he came for it. This is infuriating and sickening.”
Implementing Trump’s proposed changes to the Census would be challenging.
His primary obstacle would be obtaining Congressional approval, as alterations would require modifications to the Census Act.
Furthermore, the 14th Amendment mandates that ‘the whole number of persons in each state’ be counted for apportionment, interpreted by the Census Bureau to include everyone, regardless of immigration status.
Additionally, federal law would prevent Trump from initiating a new Census mid-decade.