US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday on social media that he had instructed the Department of Commerce to begin work on a new US census that excludes undocumented immigrants from the population count, UNN writes.
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"I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin work on a new and very accurate census, based on modern facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information obtained during the 2024 presidential election," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
"People who are in our country illegally will not be counted in the census," Trump emphasized.
As CNN notes, Trump's proposal marks a sharp departure from long-standing US census practice. The survey has historically counted all residents regardless of immigration status.
The announcement also comes amid growing pressure from the White House on Republican-led states to "redraw" congressional maps in a way that could strengthen the Republican Party ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, CNN writes.
The US Constitution mandates a national census every ten years to determine congressional representation, and the census website states that it is "designed to count every resident of the United States."
Trump, it is noted, previously tried to change the census in 2020 during his first term, repeatedly stating that he would continue to fight for the inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 census, despite the US Supreme Court blocking these efforts.
Trump then backed down from his efforts, instead asking government agencies to provide records that could determine the number of citizens without directly surveying enumerators.