CONTACT INFORMATION:
comms@ncapaonline.org
[***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***]
RELEASE DATE
September 16, 2026
NCAPA Raises Alarm on Trump Administration’s Proposed Rule Change to the 2030 Census
The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA), a coalition of 45 leading national organizations serving Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, strongly opposes the Trump administration’s latest attempt to strip our communities of our fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
This proposed rule change to the Census is the latest attack in a coordinated effort to reshape who belongs and has a voice in our country. This administration’s previous attempts to dismantle birthright citizenship threatened to end citizenship for millions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and this new proposed rule now threatens to render many of our communities invisible by obscuring disparities, reducing investments, and harming political representation.
Policy Context: On September 10, 2026, the Trump administration proposed a rule that would exclude millions of people from the 2030 population count and prohibit the collection of demographic data on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The proposal can be found at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/10/2026-18481/decennial-census-of-the-population-of-americans-proposed-residence-criteria-and-proposed-regulations.
If this change were to take effect, only U.S. citizens and green card holders would be counted as people having “usual residence” in the United States. This move would exclude everyone here on any other status, including those on work visas and student visas. This strategy is very similar to the administration’s previous executive order to eliminate birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are here on work visas and student visas, an action that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional earlier this year.
This action is similarly unconstitutional, undermining clear language in the 14th Amendment, which is reaffirmed in Title 13 U.S.C., that states that “Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State…” Under this proposed rule, states and regions with sizable numbers of immigrants stand to lose the most; they would be disproportionately harmed by Census undercounts, losing tens of billions in federal funding as well as crucial congressional seats.
Just as troubling, the Trump administration proposes to eliminate the collection of essential information on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. For decades, our communities have fought to be included in the Census count so that government agencies, as well as private businesses, can better understand and serve our communities. Data collection on race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation is also essential to understand when our communities are underserved, ignored, or discriminated against. By removing data that captures key demographic information, this administration proposal would remove our communities’ ability to fight back and advocate for what we are entitled to under the law.
Finally, the Census Bureau has not yet decided whether to include a question on immigrant legal status in the 2030 Census. The proposed rule invites public comment on the question, even as past research indicates that millions of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, will be unlikely to fill out the Census form if that question is included.
Effectively, these proposed changes to the decennial census aim to reshape how political power is distributed across the country, redraw congressional districts, prevent anti-discrimination enforcement, and undermine where federal funds are allocated. It proposes a United States that would lose a complete and accurate count of the population.
Call to Action: Comments on the proposed rule are due by October 13, 2026, a rushed process providing just 33 days for comment, despite the proposed rule being a significant regulatory action that requires a longer period.
NCAPA calls on our members, partners, and allies to submit a comment at: https://www.regulations.gov/document/USBC-2026-0628-0001, urging the Census Bureau to withdraw this incredibly harmful proposal.
Gregg Orton, National Director of NCAPA, weighs in: “These proposed changes, which aim to exclude and eliminate certain groups, pose a deeply concerning unraveling of progress toward complete, representative data that currently informs vital civil rights protections and key investments in our AANHPI communities. The anti-immigrant sentiment expressed through this proposal is unsurprising but still incredibly troubling. We cannot advocate for good policy if we only have incomplete, narrow data. We will champion a Census that reflects all those who are a part of this country.”
“This proposed rule would turn back so much of what our communities have fought for since the 1970s,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, Executive Director of AAPI Data and a co-chair of NCAPA’s Data Equity Working Group. Ramakrishnan also previously served as a member of the nonpartisan U.S. Census Bureau National Advisory Committee (NAC). “Because of disaggregated race and ethnicity data, we have been able to successfully advocate for policy solutions that address the diverse needs of our communities. This rule would exclude millions of our community members, leave our communities undercounted and underserved.”
“A fair and accurate Census is fundamental to our democracy. Failing to count every person in the country, as the Constitution requires, prevents us from seeing and addressing the reality of our communities,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC. “This proposal would deliberately leave millions of people out of the count while stripping away race and ethnicity data that communities like ours rely on to understand disparities, enforce civil rights protections, and advocate for the resources our communities need. No president or administration can choose what subset of our country counts for any reason – the U.S. Constitution requires apportionment based on the whole population in each state, regardless of immigration status. The Census Bureau’s responsibility is to count our country accurately and completely, not to rewrite the rules around who belongs.”
“The decennial census is more than a questionnaire. It is the constitutional mechanism by which America counts its people, determines representation, and distributes political power and public resources. Like the attempt to unilaterally end the constitutional principle of birthright citizenship, the administration is now seeking to end the constitutional requirement of counting every person in this country and end the long-established practice of asking questions on race and ethnicity,” said Christine Chen, Executive Director of APIAVote. “Such changes to the decennial census would harm Asian American and Pacific Islander communities by unconstitutionally reducing our political voice and denying many in our communities from being able to access government programs. As with the attempt to end birthright citizenship, this proposal must be struck down.”
“These proposed rules threaten to erase decades of hard-won progress for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, undoing years of work to be disaggregated and counted rather than hidden in broader categories,” said Karla Thomas, EPIC Executive Director. “It also threatens real harm to our immigrant communities. An exclusion of everyone who is not a U.S. citizen or green card holder puts Pacific Islanders who don’t fall in either category—such as COFA citizens and U.S. nationals—at risk of not being counted. We fought for visibility and we will not be invisible again.”
“The Census Bureau’s proposal to remove race and ethnicity questions from the decennial census is a direct attack on refugees and immigrants. The Census provides the nation’s most comprehensive source of disaggregated population data, and is often the only source of data on Southeast Asian communities,” said Quyen Dinh, SEARAC Executive Director. “Disaggregated racial and ethnic data provide visibility to communities often left overlooked, such as the Iu Mien or the Lao communities, and are necessary for comprehensive policy solutions that address the disparities faced by our communities. SEARAC will fight to defend our communities’ right to be seen.”
NAKASEC Co-Director Jung Woo Kim said: “The Census Bureau’s attempt to remove questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation; and to exclude millions of people who call America home, is a part of a larger coordinated effort to erase communities from the United States and steal political power. By excluding millions of immigrants from participating and removing critical demographic questions, resources for communities and Congressional representation could be drastically cut and altered. As a national network that serves Korean and Asian Americans and immigrants across six states – several of which would be most harmed by this proposed rule – we vehemently oppose these proposed changes. The census is a powerful tool to understand our country’s communities and needs, and as such, should accurately represent the millions of people who build and shape our towns, cities, and country.”
Jeffrey B. Caballero, MPH, AAPCHO’s Executive Director, said: “Good public health starts with knowing who lives in our communities and what they need to stay healthy. Excluding immigrants and eliminating critical demographic data will make millions of people invisible. This will lead to worse health outcomes and more expensive care by making it harder for health centers and other health care providers to plan services, prevent illness, and respond to community needs. An accurate and inclusive census is essential to protecting the health of every community. We urge the Census Bureau to withdraw this proposal.”
“The Trump administration’s proposal to eliminate racial data collection and exclude certain immigrants from the 2030 Census jeopardizes the civil rights, public safety, and political influence of communities of color across the country,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate and Executive Director of AAPI Equity Alliance. “The Census helps ensure our communities are seen and served, determining the flow of federal dollars, resources, and political representation. Without this essential data, we lose our ability to adequately document the racial discrimination and wealth inequities facing Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other communities of color. This is yet another attempt by this administration to redefine who counts as American – and we will not be silent.”
“You cannot erase our communities on paper and pretend we do not exist. AANHPI communities are diverse, immigrant communities and part of the fabric of this country, and every one of us deserves to be counted,” said Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF). “At NAPAWF, we see how comprehensive data can expose wage gaps, health care disparities, and other barriers immigrant families face. Without that data, it becomes harder to expose inequities, hold our government accountable, and fight for the resources and policies our communities actually need.”
“The proposed rule undermines the Census’s fundamental purpose to provide an accurate picture of who we are as a country. Census data is essential not only for fair representation and a functioning democracy, but also for ensuring the government understands and effectively serves all our communities,” said National CAPACD’s Chief Executive Officer. “Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are diverse. There is no single Asian American and Pacific Islander experience. Our communities have distinct histories, cultures, migration stories, lived experiences, and economic realities. We know firsthand that when people are excluded from the count, our diversity is erased from the data and communities become invisible. Our communities deserve to be seen, understood, and represented in the data that shapes our democracy and our future.”
JACL Executive Director Lilly Simmering, says: “From 1922 to 1952, Japanese immigrants were barred from naturalizing in the United States. A determination that deemed our community did not belong. They were counted by the Census anyway, and that data was later provided to military officials before the forced removal of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans from the West Coast began. Under this proposed rule, the Census Bureau is making a similar determination about who belongs in our nation. Ending the counting of several categories of immigrants, and the collection of critical demographic data, is antithetical to the nature of the Census, and will leave our communities vulnerable and underserved.”
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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 45 national Asian Pacific American organizations. We represent the diverse interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities, providing a national voice for our communities’ concerns.