Trump administration wants to put citizenship question on test survey for US Census

The Trump administration now wants the 2030 Census to reflect individuals’ citizenship status, a stark change to how the census has been designed for decades.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by 21 other states, submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce to object the proposed citizenship question along with other changes to a test survey meant to be conducted later this year. During his first administration, President Donald Trump attempted to politicize the census by adding a citizenship question, but was ultimately blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court following a lawsuit filed by former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.

“Now, his Census Bureau wants to move forward with a test survey that not only includes a citizenship question and other problematic changes, but that also undermines proper preparation for the 2030 Census,” Bonta said in a statement. “We have fought tooth and nail to ensure that California receives both the congressional representation and federal funding we are entitled to. With today’s comment letter, my fellow attorneys general and I are continuing to stand up for the rule of law and calling out the Trump Administration for jeopardizing a fair and accurate 2030 Census. The proposed changes are illegal and must be withdrawn.”

The Census Bureau, a subdivision of the Department of Commerce, conducts the Constitutionally-mandated census every 10 years to get a count of every resident in the U.S. The results of the census determine state representation in Congress as well as the distribution of federal funding. The Bureau conducts operational test surveys before the official census, with the 2026 survey taking place this spring.

By including a citizenship question on the test survey, the census will likely result in a decrease in accurate responses from immigrant, undocumented, Latino and Asian households specifically, according to multiple studies. The Bureau itself has reported in the past that a citizenship question would cause a “large drop in self-response rates” and reduce the accuracy of the census.

In California, around 3.3. million residents live in mixed-status households.

“In this climate, noncitizens – documented and undocumented – as well as those with noncitizen family members, are likely to be fearful about the collection of citizenship data by the federal government,” the multi-state coalition wrote. “This is likely to increase the risk of nonresponses among already hard-to-count communities both for the 2026 Test and the 2030 Census — a risk that will be substantially heightened if the 2030 Census itself includes a citizenship question.”

The changes to the test survey, which were announced in early February, go beyond adding a citizenship question. The Bureau now plans on conducting the survey in only two sites in South Carolina and Alabama, compared to the six sites it had previously chosen. The coalition argues this will reduce the efficacy of the test survey because the chosen sites don’t meet the Bureau’s own criteria to be able to reach “hard-to-count populations.”

The Bureau will also test the capability of the U.S. Postal Service to collect data for the test survey, instead of the process being conducted by the Bureau’s own workers.

The decision to have postal service workers conduct the survey is also problematic, the coalition argues, because Postal Services workers are not legally required to maintain confidentiality of individual data if pressed by government agencies. Bureau workers, on the other hand, are prohibited under the law to share sensitive data they collect.

The test survey is set to start this month and wrap up in the summer.