# Questions about Trump's proposed new Census **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 7, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823 "2025-08-07T17:29:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/1 "2025-08-07T17:29:16Z")
Please: For the purpose of discussion, let us presume that Congress actually pushes this through and it is legalified and legitimibated. Trump wants a new official census done as soon as possible, although the actual census only happens once every ten years, and the next one isn’t due unto 2030. He wants to count only U.S. citizens, though, and I am wondering how that would work out for the census workers, of which I was one the last time around. For the purpose of discussion, let us presume that Congress actually pushes this through and it is legalified and legitimibated. How does it actually _work?_ How does a census worker determine who is a citizen and who isn’t? I remember how hard it was just to determine who lived at each residence and what they did. Help me out here. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/2 "2025-08-07T17:33:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How does it actually _work?_ How does a census worker determine who is a citizen and who isn’t? I think it would work just as other census questions work: The enumerator asks, and records the response. Enumerators are not expected to verify anything. The result, however, may be the most inaccurate and unreliable census ever taken. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/3 "2025-08-07T17:35:22Z")
I’m guessing this particular census would require each person to show a document that proves they are a US citizen. “Show me your passport/birth certificate right now” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/4 "2025-08-07T17:36:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I remember how hard it was just to determine who lived at each residence and what they did. Help me out here. It’s not supposed to work. Trump doesn’t like real numbers, because they always show him to be a fool. He wants shitty numbers provided by people who don’t care that the numbers are shitty, so he can screw around with them in any way he likes. There won’t be any of those pesky “experts” lurking about saying, “That’s not how that works!” ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/5 "2025-08-07T17:40:56Z")
“That name doesn’t sound very citizen-y to me.” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/6 "2025-08-07T17:44:37Z")
I remember that as an Enumerator I had a hell of a time getting people to trust me enough to open the door…although some appeared with attack dogs and/or weapons. This will not help. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/7 "2025-08-07T17:56:35Z")
So the party that hides under the fig leaf of “we’re only against illegal immigrants” shows its true colors once again by not wanting to count permanent resident aliens, aka green card holders. “Resident” is in the name for a reason! 🙄 (I’m ignoring that there are very good reasons to count **everyone** who lives here, legally or not. The demand for public facilities, services, and resources scales to population, period, not the number of legal residents or citizens. But that’s about planning based on data, something Donald “flying by the seat of my pants” Trump has never done in his life.) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/8 "2025-08-07T17:58:46Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I remember that as an Enumerator I had a hell of a time getting people to trust me enough to open the door…although some appeared with attack dogs and/or weapons. This will not help. I used to assist people with genealogical research when I worked for an archive and I made use of census data when in graduate school, and the work you and others put in to gather this data is severely underappreciated. Thank you. With Trump, I suspect there are three reasons he wants the census to exclude non-citizens. 1. He thinks it hurts his enemies. 2. It makes him look good to his base. 3. He doesn’t want accurate numbers. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/9 "2025-08-07T18:12:19Z")
I’m county GIS. We assign/validate physical addresses. The census data is always a mess. But not really their fault. Half of the houses in the county are second homes, and we also have LOTS of seasonal workers. Such is life in ski country. A lot of the seasonal workers are also probably undocumented, or green card holders or whatever. I. Don’t. Care. I retire in 4 months, I will NOT take part in the enumerating process again. EVER. As it is people are afraid of the census. This would push them over the top. You are not going to get anything near an accurate count. Trump may know this and hope for this, but he’s a lazy moron that turns every thing he touches into shit. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/10 "2025-08-07T18:13:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How does a census worker determine who is a citizen and who isn’t? A low number on the von Luschen scale: > **[Von Luschan's chromatic scale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Luschan's_chromatic_scale)** > > Von Luschan's chromatic scale (VLS) is a method of classifying skin color. It is also called the von Luschan scale or von Luschan's scale. It is named after its inventor, Felix von Luschan. The equipment consisted of 36 opaque glass tiles which were compared to the subject's skin, ideally in a place which would not be exposed to the sun (such as under the arm). The von Luschan scale was used to establish racial classifications of populations according to skin color; in this respect it is in contr... ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/11 "2025-08-07T18:15:38Z")
_Albinos Rule!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/12 "2025-08-07T18:19:10Z")
It would work like this: In areas were the population is highly MAGA, everybody (and their dog!) is a citizen, we’ll require more congressional districts here so they are properly represented. In areas were the populations is highly anti-MAGA half are illegals and a quarter are non-citizens, we need to eliminate 3/4 of congressional districts in this area. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/13 "2025-08-07T18:28:55Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > He wants shitty numbers provided by people who don’t care that the numbers are shitty, so he can screw around with them in any way he likes. There won’t be any of those pesky “experts” lurking about saying, “That’s not how that works!” I would just assume that they are going to use Grok to perform the ‘census’ and then structure prompts to get the answer they want. We’re in the era of AI and hyperefficiency; nobody has any time for knocking on doors and talking to people, or following the clear language of the Constitution, amirite? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/14 "2025-08-07T18:39:37Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Trump may know this I’m not sure he knows it - I’m not sure he knows much of anything other than what benefits him in the here and now - but Stephen “Skeletor” Miller and the other MAGA architects certainly understand that if the census undercounts brown people, they may not even have to gerrymander to get the House they want. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/15 "2025-08-07T18:39:54Z")
The constitution talks only about counting the number of persons not citizens. So I don’t know how he’s claiming that only the number of citizens should be used to determine congressional representation. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/16 "2025-08-07T18:41:15Z")
Because Trump. There are many things in the Constitution that he ignores. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/17 "2025-08-07T18:41:39Z")
That’s for another thread (which I hope someone starts!). This thread presumes it happens. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/18 "2025-08-07T19:10:28Z")
> [@ricepad](#): > > I’m not sure he knows it - I’m not sure he knows much of anything other than what benefits him in the here and now - but Stephen “Skeletor” Miller and the other MAGA architects certainly understand that if the census undercounts brown people, they may not even have to gerrymander to get the House they want. Right. I’m sure that Trump has never filled out a census response in his life. That’s way, way to close to work and you may have to read for comprehension. This is way beyond his capabilities. But I don’t understand something. If ‘brown’ people are not counted, the number of residents will be lower, so they cannot split the district to get another seat. But I guess jerrymandering is all about just moving the lines about, but they said 5 new districts in TX. I’m confused, if there is an undercount, how do they justify new districts? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/19 "2025-08-07T19:45:52Z")
Maybe they could compromise and devise some kind of “three fifths” rule. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823/20 "2025-08-07T19:56:09Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > If ‘brown’ people are not counted, the number of residents will be lower, That just proves the old census was wrong. It’s the Dems fault and requires Trump to correct the census numbers himself so they fit the size of the new Republican adjusted legislative bodies. Just common census. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-trumps-proposed-new-census/1021823.md?page=2)