Trump Moves to Remove Illegal Immigrants from Census Count | Fight Heads to Supreme Court (Viva Frei)

A renewed legal battle over the U.S. census and congressional apportionment is set to unfold as Donald Trump moves to exclude illegal immigrants from the official count used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives and Electoral College votes. The dispute centers on whether “persons” under the Constitution’s apportionment clause must include individuals without legal status, an issue the Supreme Court has never fully resolved. Lower courts have previously ruled they must be counted, but constitutional scholars argue the framers intended apportionment to reflect the political community, not transient or unlawfully present populations. Trump’s move, reportedly encouraged by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, could reach the Supreme Court as early as next year, potentially impacting representation ahead of the 2028 presidential election.



[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, August 13, 2025.]