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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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President Trump on Thursday said he had told the Department of Commerce to conduct a new U.S. population census that, in contrast to previous iterations, won't include "people who are in our country illegally."
Newsweek has created a map showing how much the exclusion of illegal immigrants would likely reduce the population of each state, based on a Pew Research Center analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey.
The U.S. Census Bureau was contacted by Newsweek for comment on Thursday outside of regular office hours.
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Why It Matters
President Trump's move is significant as Census Bureau data is used to determine how many Representatives each state gets to send to Congress, so a new survey could hurt the Democrats if illegal migrants are disproportionately concentrated in blue states.
Trump made a similar bid to exclude illegal migrants from census figures during his first term, but this was blocked by the courts which ruled only Congress can make such a decision, then overturned by President Biden.
What To Know
The Pew Research Center analysis of 2022 American Community Survey data concluded there were an estimated 11 million illegal migrants living in the United States, an increase from 10.5 million the previous year.
The state with the most suspected illegal migrants was California with 1,850,000 followed by Texas with 1,600,000, Florida on 900,000 and New York with 600,000.
These were followed by New Jersey with 450,000, Illinois with 400,000 and Georgia on 250,000. Out of the six states with the most illegal migrants according to the data only Florida clearly leans toward the Republicans.
By contrast the states with the least illegal migrants were Montana, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming with less than 5,000 each, of which only Vermont is solidly Democratic.
A U.S. population census is constitutionally mandated every ten years. According to the Census Bureau website it is "designed to count every resident in the United States" regardless of legal status.
This week also saw the Trump administration announce a series of measures which they said will reduce fraudulent U.S. diversity visa (DV) lottery applications.
The State Department has proposed a new rule requiring citizens of certain countries with high overstay rates to post bond of between $5,000 and $15,000 before entering the U.S.
What People Are Saying
Writing on his Truth Social website Trump said: "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!"
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On X, Melanie D'Arrigo, Executive Director of the Campaign for New York Health, said: "Trump wants to dictate new census numbers to pull congressional seats away from Blue states, justify Republican redistricting and the slashing of federal funding to areas and states of his choosing. Pay attention."
House Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene said on X: "President Trump is ordering a new census that will not count illegal aliens.
"President Trump supports my bill Making American Elections Great Again Act which not only orders a new census counting American citizens only, it also orders reapportionment by the new U.S. citizen count, and requires proof of citizenship to vote!!! Congress must pass my bill so that American citizens ONLY will be represented in Congress!"
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether Trump's request for a new U.S. census excluding illegal migrants will be conducted or if it will once again by blocked in court.
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