Senators Urge Census Bureau to Drop Noncitizen Rule

A bipartisan group of 26 senators is pressing the Commerce Department to rescind a proposed census rule that would exclude most noncitizens from the population count.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Immigration

Senators Urge Census Bureau to Drop Noncitizen Rule

Live Poll

Should the census count all residents, including noncitizens, when allocating congressional seats?

Sen. Gary Peters and Sen. Andy Kim led a letter, joined by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and 26 senators in total, urging the Commerce Department to rescind the proposal. The rule would exclude most noncitizens from the census population count used for congressional representation.

Why it matters

Census population counts determine how congressional seats and federal funding are distributed, so changes to who is counted affect representation nationwide. The senators argue the proposal is unconstitutional and would cause undercounts that hamper civil rights law enforcement.

The letter was signed by 26 senators, including Peters, Kim and Murkowski, and Hands Off Our Census reported on Oct. 21 that 85% of public comments opposed the rule. The extraction does not indicate how Commerce will respond once the comment period closes.

The players

Gary Peters

Michigan Democratic senator who led the letter urging the Commerce Department to rescind the proposed census rule.

Andy Kim

New Jersey Democratic senator who co-led the letter opposing the proposed census rule.

Lisa Murkowski

Alaska Republican senator who joined the letter and has previously highlighted census undercount impacts on Alaska tribal communities.

The details

The proposed rule would use tax records to identify respondents' usual residence for the first time in modern history and would stop collecting data on race and ethnicity. It also includes adding an immigration status question to the 10-year census, which experts say could have more dramatic effects than the 2018 citizenship question.

2024: Murkowski joined Democrats in blocking an amendment from Sen. Bill Hagerty to an omnibus appropriations bill.
Late October 2026: House Democrats sent an opposition letter to Census Bureau Acting Director George Cook.
November 2, 2026: The public comment period on the proposed rule closes.

Political Context

Experts say the proposed immigration status question could have more dramatic effects than the 2018 citizenship question. The senators argue the rule would degrade the accuracy of other federal survey data, particularly for small and rural areas.

If finalized, the rule would change how the census counts residents and which respondents are included in population totals used for congressional representation. The proposed changes could affect data used by federal programs and surveys, particularly in small and rural areas.

The takeaway

Census counting rules shape political representation and federal data for a decade, so the outcome of this comment period will matter well beyond the current debate. Readers can follow the public comment process to see how the rule changes.

What happens next

The public comment period on the proposed rule closes November 2, 2026, after which Commerce and the Census Bureau will consider the feedback received.