Most Still Want Citizenship Question on U.S. Census

Americans continue to agree with the Trump administration that the U.S. Census should include a citizenship question and say illegal immigrants should not be counted when congressional seats are being apportioned.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 65% of American Adults still believe the U.S. Census should ask respondents whether they are citizens of the United States. Twenty-five percent (25%) disagree, while 10% are not sure. This is unchanged from January 2019 when a federal judge ruled against including a citizenship question in the 2020 Census. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

A plurality (48%) thinks illegal immigrants should not be counted as part of the Census and not used in the state-by-state breakdown of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Forty-one percent (41%) believe they should be counted. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.

Sixty percent (60%) of Democrats say illegal immigrants should be counted and used to determine how many House seats a state has. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Republicans and 55% of those not affiliated with either major party disagree.

New York, with a higher illegal immigrant population than most states, is challenging the citizenship question in court, and the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case this week.

Eighty-nine percent (89%) of all Americans believe it is important for the government to get as accurate a count of the U.S. population as possible in the Census, with 70% who say it’s Very Important. Only seven percent (7%) say it’s not very or Not At All Important.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted December 1-2, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Likely new President Joe Biden has vowed to have less restrictive policies on illegal immigrants than President Trump. For the third time in the four weeks since Election Day, however, the Rasmussen Reports Immigration Index has closed below its baseline, indicating that voters want tighter immigration control.

Republicans (84%) are the biggest supporters of a citizenship question on the Census, followed by unaffiliated adults (62%) and Democrats (54%).

Those under 40 are the strongest supporters of counting illegal immigrants as part of the Census and in apportioning seats in the House. Younger adults also attach less importance to an accurate Census count.

Whites, blacks and other minority Americans are all equally supportive of a citizenship question on the U.S. Census.

Sixty-five percent (65%) of adults who support a citizenship question do not believe illegal immigrants should be counted. Among those who oppose such a question on the Census, 78% say they should be counted and used to set the makeup of the House.

Most voters agree it’s become harder for illegal immigrants to enter this country since Trump took office, but Democrats are seemingly very unhappy with that.

Voters are strongly opposed to government benefits and constitutional legal rights for those here illegally and think the availability of those things is a magnet for further illegal immigration. Most also oppose giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it's free) or follow us on Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.