Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census

This executive order reverses the Trump administration's policy by requiring that the 2020 Census apportionment count include all persons regardless of immigration status. It revokes two prior directives that sought to exclude undocumented immigrants from census-based congressional seat allocation and directs the Commerce Secretary to report total population figures without regard to immigration status.

Federal Register Open PDF 86 FR 7015

Impact dates

Date TBD
Secretary must report to Governor and state officers for legislative apportionment/districting (13 U.S.C. 141(c)) — within 1 year of decennial census date

Key directives

Secretary shall report tabulation of total population by State without regard to immigration status (13 U.S.C. 141(b))
Secretary shall use whole-population tabulations in reports to states for legislative apportionment/districting (13 U.S.C. 141(c))
Secretary shall ensure population information is accurate and complies with applicable laws
Revocation of Executive Order 13880 (July 11, 2019)
Revocation of Presidential Memorandum of July 21, 2020

Who is ordered

Secretary of Commerce · Department of Commerce

Timeline

Immediate

Revocation of EO 13880 and July 21, 2020 Presidential Memorandum
Policy directive to Commerce Secretary on apportionment base

Near term (90d)

Commerce Secretary preparation of revised 141(b) report to President
State-level tabulations under 141(c) for redistricting

Long term

Apportionment of House seats for 2022-2032 decade
State legislative redistricting based on full population counts

Risks & tensions

EO assumes legal authority to direct apportionment methodology; prior administration disagreed on this constitutional question
Statutory deadline of 13 U.S.C. 141(c) (within 1 year of census date, i.e., April 1, 2021) may have already passed or be imminent relative to January 20, 2021 signing
Data quality concerns from prior administration's citizenship data collection efforts may persist
Political and legal contestation over counting undocumented immigrants remains unresolved at Supreme Court level