A Black-led Florida voting rights group is lambasting President Donald Trump for instructing the Commerce Department to change the way the U.S. Census Bureau collects data to exclude immigrants who are in the country illegally.
"We strongly condemn Donald Trump's call to trample on the voting rights of millions by ordering an unlawful census," Equal Ground interim executive director Genesis Robinson told WLRN. "The attempt to erase undocumented people from the census is not only morally repugnant, it is legally indefensible.
"The United States Census is not a political tool for any administration to manipulate for partisan advantage. It must be conducted thoughtfully and deliberately, with a focus on reaching every person, regardless of race, income or immigration status."
The nonprofit works to empower underserved and Black communities through civic engagement.
"Instead of grandstanding with unconstitutional demands for a new census, we call on this administration to prepare in earnest for the 2030 count, to invest in the resources, personnel and protections necessary to ensure every community is counted fairly and completely," Robinson continued.
READ MORE: Trump seeks to change how census collects data and wants to exclude immigrants in US illegally
In a post on his Truth Social website, Trump wrote that census' data collections will be based on "modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024."
Trump stressed that as part of the changes people in "our Country illegally" will be excluded from census counts.
Experts said it was unclear what exactly Trump was calling for, whether it was changes to the 2030 census or a mid-decade census, and, if so, whether it would be used for a mid-decade apportionment, which is the process of divvying up congressional seats among the states based on the population count.
Any changes in the conduct of a national census, which is the biggest nonmilitary undertaking by the federal government, would require alterations to the Census Act and approval by Congress, which has oversight responsibilities, and there likely would be a fierce fight.
An estimated 11 million people live in the U.S. illegally, including about 772,000 in Florida, according to data compiled from the census bureau by the Migration Policy Institute.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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