Trump orders a new census that excludes undocumented immigrants despite the fact that there are 5 years left

Washington.- The U.S. President, Donald Trump, announced this Thursday that he ordered his Administration to work «immediately» on a new «high-precision» census that uses data obtained after the 2024 presidential elections and excludes undocumented immigrants, amid a national controversy over the redistribution of electoral maps. «I have instructed our Department of Commerce to immediately begin working on a new, high-precision CENSUS, based on current data and figures and, fundamentally, using the results and information obtained in the 2024 Presidential Elections,» he wrote on his Truth Social network.

Deportation Policy and Asylum Denial

The Republican, who since returning to power in January has intensified his policy of deportations and denial of asylum, added that undocumented people currently in the country "will not be counted in the CENSUS", despite the fact that it has always had the mandate to count all people living in the country regardless of their status.

A Census Every 10 Years

The last United States population census was conducted in 2020 and the next one is scheduled for 2030.

According to the country's Constitution, which stipulates the frequency and procedures of the survey, these are carried out every 10 years and their results are the only valid ones for the allocation of electoral districts and representation in Congress. The Congress, currently under Republican control, has the power to order additional or intermediate censuses through ordinary laws, although they are only used for statistical purposes and their findings should not be used for redistricting.

Electoral Changes in Texas

The actions of the US president coincide with a sharp national controversy over the attempt by Republican lawmakers in Texas to redraw the state's electoral map, a proposal promoted by Trump that would add five seats for his party in the US House of Representatives ahead of the midterm elections in 2026. The presentation of the measure in the state legislature has provoked intense rejection among Texas Democrats, who have left the territory to block the progress of the proposal. In response, Republican Governor Gregg Abbott has threatened to remove the congressmen from their positions and arrest them.

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Opponents of the proposal insist on the unprecedented nature of this redistribution in the middle of the decade, as these movements are usually completed after new data provided by the censuses that the U.S. carries out every ten years.

Faced with this, several Democratic states such as California and New York have stated that they could begin similar processes.