Memorandum on Apportionment of House Seats Excluding Illegal Aliens
President Trump signed Memorandum 2020-16216 on July 21, 2020, directing the Secretary of Commerce to exclude persons not in lawful status from the apportionment base used to allocate House of Representatives seats among states following the 2020 Census. The memorandum instructed the Commerce Department to provide two apportionment counts: one including all persons counted in the census, and one excluding those determined to be in the country illegally. The practical effect on Americans depended on the memorandum's implementation and legal validity, which faced immediate legal challenges.