A majority of likely voters support President Donald Trump’s call for a new census, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll. The survey found that 57% approve of the proposal, including 36% who strongly approve, while 34% disapprove. Support is closely tied to views on whether people living in the U.S. without legal status should be counted. Overall, 52% of respondents said illegal immigrants should be excluded from the census, compared with 36% who disagreed. Among those who favor exclusion, nearly three-quarters approve of Trump’s push for a new census.
The issue reveals sharp partisan divides. Majorities of Republicans and unaffiliated voters said illegal immigrants should not be counted, while nearly half of Democrats said they should be included. The split was also evident along 2024 voting lines, with most Trump voters opposing counting illegal immigrants and a majority of Kamala Harris voters supporting inclusion. Trump recently announced he had directed his administration to begin work on what he called a “new” census that would exclude millions of people without legal status.
The proposal has raised significant legal and constitutional questions. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress controls the census, which must count the “whole number of persons” every 10 years for apportionment. While mid-decade counts are allowed, they cannot be used to redraw congressional districts. Civil rights groups, including the ACLU, have warned that excluding noncitizens would likely trigger legal challenges, arguing it would violate long-standing constitutional and legal precedent.