Census Count Now Excludes Every Noncitizen Except Residents, Approved Refugees
Filed September 9 under docket 2026-18481, the rule counts only citizens, permanent residents and approved refugees for apportionment purposes.
- Commerce filed the rule September 9, 2026, one day ahead of its Federal Register publication.
- Only citizens, lawful permanent residents, and approved asylees or refugees count toward apportionment.
- The count still decides how House seats and Electoral College votes shift after 2030.
Why it matters: A definition rewritten again shows the question was never settled by law, only by whoever holds the pen.
U.S. Census Bureau / Dept. of Commerce, Federal Register proposed rule (Decennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions, RIN 0607-AA75, doc. 2026-18481) ↗ · Sep 9, 20269/9/26 · Updated Sep 9