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Census Bureau proposal would drop noncitizens without lawful permanent residency from the apportionment count and bar race, ethnicity and sexual-orientation questions from the census form

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A Census Bureau proposed rule published September 10 would change who counts for apportionment, the count that divides U.S. House seats among the states: foreign citizens would be counted only if they are also U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, a change from the 2020 criteria, which counted them regardless of legal status. A second, independent part would bar race, ethnicity and sexual-orientation questions from the short-form census questionnaire. In a notice scheduled to publish October 5, the Bureau extended the comment deadline to November 2.

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A Census Bureau proposal would change which foreign citizens count toward the apportionment of U.S. House seats, and would strip race, ethnicity and sexual-orientation questions from the census form. A second filing, on public inspection October 2 and scheduled to publish October 5, extends the comment deadline on that September 10 proposed rule to November 2.

Who counts

The proposal defines a person's "usual residence" as the home where they lawfully spent the most days during a "census enumeration period" running January 3 to April 1, evidenced by their tax records. People confined at correctional or detention facilities, including juvenile ones, would be counted at the facility. Military and civilian federal employees stationed outside the country, with dependents living with them, would form a "U.S. federally affiliated overseas population"; those deployed abroad from a U.S. posting would be counted at their U.S. residence.

The change for foreign citizens

Under the 2020 criteria, any foreign citizen "living in" the United States was counted at their U.S. residence regardless of legal status, and only those "visiting" were excluded; the Bureau notes that criterion called for no difference in treatment between people present legally and illegally. The proposed rule would count a foreign citizen only if they are also a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident. For everyone else its text reads "Not counted for apportionment" — a group the Bureau describes as people without legal status and people whose status is less durable and indefinite in length than lawful permanent residency. It invites comment on whether other forms of legal status are materially similar.

The rule does not say those people would go unenumerated. An endnote says the Bureau publishes statistics separate from those for apportionment and expects to continue.

The demographic-question rules

A second, independent proposal would bar any question about race, ethnicity or sexual orientation from the short-form questionnaire or any questionnaire used to count the population. Questions on biological sex, date of birth and household relationships could stay, to help verify the data; except for those three, no one would be required to answer a demographic question. The Bureau notes that under 13 U.S.C. 221 failing to answer a census question is a federal crime. It also proposes barring itself from publishing individual demographic data where that would require introducing uncertainty into the population count. The bar reaches only the forms used to count people: nothing in that part would stop the Bureau asking the same questions on the American Community Survey or other surveys not used for enumeration. Separately, it welcomes comment on adding a legal-status question to the short form.

The dates

The extension notice moves the deadline from October 13 to November 2, 2026. Submit online at regulations.gov under docket USBC-2026-0628, or by mail to 4600 Silver Hill Road, Designation: ADDEMO/FRN, Washington, DC 20746. The Bureau says comments sent any other way, or received late, may not be considered, and will accept anonymous submissions entered as "N/A." No final rule has been issued, and the proposal sets no standalone rule for college students, nursing-home residents or homeless shelters.

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