Trump and allies launch Census strategy that could upend blue states’ advantage with illegal aliens
Missouri AG says effort to bar the counting of illegal immigrants in the U.S. Census could ultimately land at the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Nicholas Ballasy
Published: February 22, 2026 10:30pm
President Donald Trump and his allies are launching a double-barreled U.S. census strategy that could eliminate a big electoral and federal funding mechanism for blue states: illegal immigrants.
Missouri Attorney General Katherine Hanaway said her office is asking the courts to bar the federal government from counting immigrants living in the country illegally when determining congressional representation and federal funding, a move she argued could shift political power among the states for decades.
In an interview on the Just the News Not Noise TV program, Hanaway noted that Missouri filed suit challenging the current census policy, which counts all persons residing in the United States for purposes of apportionment.
“We are confident that the Census Bureau is going to start to plan for a census in 2030 where we don't count illegal immigrants,” Hanaway said. “But we're going to get a new president in 2028 and we just can't be assured that he'll do the right thing. So if we have a court order, and I'm guessing this is going to go all the way to the US Supreme Court, we get that court order, then it'll be permanent."
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https://justthenews.com/nation/states/trump-allies-launch-double-barrel-census-strategy-could-hinder-federal-funding-blue
