Sarasota Review

Congressman Greg Steube, who represents Florida's 17th congressional district, has recently posted a series of statements on his social media account criticizing the inclusion of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. census and supporting recent actions by former President Trump regarding census procedures.

On August 8, 2025, Steube wrote: "Illegals should not count in the U.S. census. What the Biden administration did with the last census was stack the deck for Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Electoral College by counting illegal aliens.

No more rigging the maps with illegals. Let's redo the https://t.co/Y26HiLHlaIhttps://t.co/13olYVTuhd"

The following day, August 9, he commented on immigration policy differences between states: "Democrats would love nothing more than to put illegals in ritzy hotels in New York City. That’s not how we handle criminals here in Florida.

While the Left exploits environmental laws to protect illegal aliens, President Trump and Florida Republicans will continue enforcing the https://t.co/Yy6VsAMUNt"

Later that same day, Steube addressed recent developments regarding census policy: "President Trump has ordered a new census to make sure illegals are no longer counted. This is a huge win for election integrity.  Democrats should not be able to exploit the presence of non-citizens to rewrite the maps to their advantage. Only U.S. citizens should play a role in https://t.co/shtYhQl8RB"

Historically, debates over whether undocumented immigrants should be included in population counts have affected congressional representation and federal funding allocations across states. The U.S. Constitution requires an "actual Enumeration" every ten years but does not specify citizenship status as a criterion for inclusion; past administrations have varied on guidance regarding this issue.

The Biden administration's approach during its term maintained counting all residents regardless of immigration status for apportionment purposes—a continuation of longstanding practice prior to efforts under President Trump's previous term to exclude undocumented immigrants from these counts.