August 19, 2026 · Information Integrity, Press & Democratic Norms
· Agency report
Well supported
Trump Cites a Census Bureau Report on Noncitizen Voting That Was Written Outside the Agency's Career Staff
In an Aug. 18 social media post, President Trump said a Census Bureau analysis of more than 128 million voter records "proves that over 24,000 Noncitizens voted illegally" in 2020. NPR reported the next day that the unauthored seven-page report was not produced by the bureau's career civil servants and that the team behind it included people affiliated with the America First Policy Institute. Data-Clear, named as the source of the voter file, said its records contained no Social Security numbers.
The Census Bureau's value rests on being read as a nonpartisan statistical agency, and former bureau officials told NPR that an unsigned brief with no measures of variance or discussion of bias departs from its normal practice. The figure cited is roughly 0.02 percent of votes cast.
Georgia's Republican secretary of state has asked the bureau for the identifying data behind its claim of 400 noncitizen voters in his state. The bureau, the institute and the White House did not respond to NPR.
The Census Bureau's value rests on being read as a nonpartisan statistical agency, and former bureau officials told NPR that an unsigned brief with no measures of variance or discussion of bias departs from its normal practice. The figure cited is roughly 0.02 percent of votes cast.
Georgia's Republican secretary of state has asked the bureau for the identifying data behind its claim of 400 noncitizen voters in his state. The bureau, the institute and the White House did not respond to NPR.