Immigrant Rights Groups Seek to Dismiss GOP Lawsuit Excluding Noncitizens from Census

The lawsuit aims to prohibit the Census Bureau from counting undocumented immigrants in the 2030 census.

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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Immigrant rights groups are seeking to dismiss a Republican lawsuit that would prohibit the U.S. Census Bureau from counting people who are in the U.S. illegally during the 2030 census. The groups say the lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway would violate the law and require a costly recount of the U.S. population from 2020.

Why it matters

The census numbers guide the distribution of federal money and determine the number of congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state receives. Excluding undocumented immigrants could distort representation for millions of Americans and impact the foundations of representative democracy.

The details

The Missouri lawsuit asks that the apportionment process using the 2020 census figures be redone without including people in the U.S. illegally, and that the process after the 2030 census be conducted the same way. A similar lawsuit is pending in federal court in Louisiana, and Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation to accomplish the same goal. The Constitution's 14th Amendment says 'the whole number of persons in each state' should be counted for apportionment, which the Census Bureau has interpreted to mean anybody living in the U.S., regardless of legal status.

  • The Missouri lawsuit was filed late last month.
  • The Census Bureau is currently determining the questions for the 2030 census form.

The players

Catherine Hanaway

The Missouri Attorney General who filed the lawsuit.

ACLU Foundation

The organization representing the immigrant rights groups seeking to intervene and dismiss the lawsuit.

Donald Trump

The former president who instructed the Commerce Department to have the Census Bureau start work on a new census that would exclude immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally from the head count.

Howard Lutnick

The Commerce Secretary who acknowledged during a Senate hearing that citizenship wasn't a factor in the apportionment process under the Constitution.

U.S. Census Bureau

The agency responsible for conducting the decennial census and determining the population counts used for apportionment.

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What they’re saying

“Citizenship wasn't a factor in the apportionment process under the Constitution.”

— Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary (Senate Appropriations Committee hearing)

What’s next

The judge in the Missouri case will decide whether to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the state's attorney general. The Census Bureau is also still determining the questions that will be included on the 2030 census form.

The takeaway

This lawsuit is the latest effort by Republicans to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count, which could have significant implications for the distribution of federal funding and political representation. The outcome of this case and the 2030 census questions will be closely watched as the battle over who should be counted continues.