Civil Rights and Census Experts Warn Proposed 2030 Census Rules Could Undercount Immigrants and Omit Race and Ethnicity Questions
LAPost/Los Angeles, CA (Sept 18, 2026) — Civil rights and census experts warn that proposed rule changes introduced by the federal government for the 2030 Census could drastically alter who is included in congressional apportionment, how individual residency is determined, and whether the census directly collects race and ethnicity data.
During a national briefing on the proposed rules issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau on September 10, speakers highlighted that these modifications could impact political representation, federal funding allocation, public health, education, transportation, emergency response, civil rights enforcement, and business planning.
Meeta Anand, Senior Director of the Census and Data Equity Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and its Education Fund, emphasized viewing the proposal as a whole. “The Census Bureau’s mandate is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place,” Anand stated, warning that the proposed changes could instead cause undercounts and reduce data accuracy.
John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, focused on a proposal to limit congressional apportionment population to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents—excluding undocumented immigrants and many other non-citizens legally residing in the U.S. Yang noted that his organization believes this change conflicts with the Constitutional mandate to count the “whole number of persons.” He added, “Every single person in the United States should be counted.” Yang also warned that questions surrounding immigration status could deter mixed-status families from participating, noting that roughly 65% of Asian Americans are immigrants and that fear or confusion could lower response rates even among U.S. citizens.
Dr. Jeanine Abrams McLean, President of Fair Count, addressed proposed changes to the “usual residence” standard. While the current standard relies primarily on where a person lives and sleeps most of the time on Census Day (April 1), the new proposal would evaluate the period between January 3 and April 1, counting individuals based on where they legally resided for the majority of those days. The proposal also permits the use of tax records, including income tax returns and W-2 forms, to help determine residency. Abrams McLean cautioned that these records may not reflect where people actually live—particularly young adults, renters, military families, and other highly mobile populations. “Changing the fundamental definition of ‘usual residence’ undermines historical comparability, which is essential to the census,” she said.
Arturo Vargas, Senior Advisor to the NALEO Educational Fund, addressed a provision that would prohibit asking about race and ethnicity on the decennial census questionnaire. Vargas explained that race and ethnicity data are widely used in civil rights enforcement, healthcare, education, disaster response, transportation, and business decision-making. “Failing to collect race and ethnicity data would have catastrophic consequences for our society,” Vargas stated.
Panelists also criticized the limited public review process, pointing out that major census revisions traditionally undergo extensive research, testing, scientific review, and public consultation.
In closing, Anand stressed that census accuracy affects everyone: “Flawed data harms everyone. What we truly want to see is a fair and accurate census that counts every single person.”
