Ft Wayne Times

Senator Jim Banks has publicly criticized the 2020 U.S. Census in a series of posts on X, alleging that the Biden administration manipulated census data to benefit Democrats and undocumented immigrants.

On October 6, 2025, Banks stated, "The 2020 Census was a fraud. The Biden admin used a shady “privacy” formula that scrambled the data and miscounted 14 states. It included illegal immigrants and handed Democrats extra seats. Americans deserve a fair count and I’m fighting to fix it." He reiterated his concerns later that day, writing, "The Biden admin cooked the numbers in the 2020 Census to give Democrats and illegal immigrants more power. It’s a scam and I’m fighting to stop it."

On October 7, Banks added further commentary regarding the timeline of census reporting: "The 2020 census report was prepared and published by the Biden admin in April 2021."

The U.S. Census Bureau released apportionment results from the 2020 Census in April 2021 under President Joe Biden's administration. However, planning for census operations—including methodology such as differential privacy—began years prior during previous administrations ([source](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2021/first-2020-census-results.html)). Differential privacy is a statistical technique designed to protect individual identities within published data sets while still providing useful aggregate information ([source](https://www.npr.org/sections/census-live-updates/2019/10/30/774591187/to-protect-your-data-2019-census-tests-a-new-encryption-method)). Critics have debated its impact on accuracy at smaller geographic levels.

Debates over whether undocumented immigrants should be counted for congressional apportionment have persisted for decades; however, federal law has long required counting all residents regardless of citizenship status ([source](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/31/who-is-counted-as-an-immigrant-in-the-u-s-census-and-other-surveys)). There is no public evidence supporting widespread intentional manipulation or fraud by any presidential administration during recent censuses.