Trump directs census officials to exclude undocumented immigrants from apportionment

President Donald Trump issues a memorandum on July 21, 2020, directing executive officials to exclude undocumented immigrants from the population base used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. The Constitution requires apportionment based on persons counted in each state. The administration argues that people without lawful immigration status should not affect congressional representation. Civil rights groups and several states argue the policy would reduce representation for diverse and immigrant-heavy communities, especially Latino communities. The policy attempts to change how political power is allocated after the census in a way that would disproportionately affect immigrant communities and states with large populations of color.