WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a social media post, President Donald Trump announced his latest assault on immigrant communities and our democracy: excluding people without current immigration status from the U.S. census. The census is used to determine congressional representation and federal funding, and this latest attempt will exclude undocumented immigrants who could shift political power, ultimately reducing representation in diverse, urban districts while benefiting rural areas. Past attempts to exclude undocumented populations from the census were blocked by the courts, citing the 14th Amendment.
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “Not only does this administration want to profile and expel immigrant communities by any means necessary, but their policies seek to erase us as part of a larger strategy to cull representation and cheat the 2026 midterm elections. Removing any population from the U.S. census should alarm all who care about preserving our democracy and ensuring fair representation. The 14th Amendment is clear: every person counts. The Trump Administration has tried, and failed, to remove undocumented people from the U.S. census. We urge the courts, elected officials, and allies to see this new attempt for what it is: a desperate and corrupt effort to stay in power.”
Said Lisa Sherman Luna, Executive Director of Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), “Trump’s reckless call for a new census that excludes people based on where they’re from and how they came to call our country home is not just contrary to the purpose and process laid out in the Constitution, but is just another way he is trying to change the rules to benefit himself. He’s trying to further rig the system to stay in power even when enacting an unpopular agenda that the majority of Americans oppose. Just like his call to redistrict in Texas and steal more Congressional seats, Trump is following the authoritarian playbook right in the open. Those of us who believe in a democracy that values people over power must continue speaking out and demanding liberty and justice for all instead of power and privilege for just a few.”
“Once again, Donald Trump is trying to interfere in the U.S. Census—an accurate count dating back to 1789 of every individual residing in the country, regardless of age, country of origin, race, income, or gender. It’s just the latest in a long line of recent cruel and desperate acts by the Trump administration that will fall apart under the slightest legal scrutiny,” said Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition. “But that’s not the point. Trump’s explicit threat to exclude immigrants from being counted in the next Census is about subverting our democracy by gerrymandering district lines and ensuring immigrant-rich states like New York and California don’t get fair access to representation or their fair share of federal dollars. The Census is critical to rebuilding our communities from the pandemic and the current economic chaos of his policies, and we will work together to make sure everyone is counted. Once again, we will fight any attempt to suppress the Census count in the courts, in Congress, and in the streets.”
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 88 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 42 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.