Court Blocks Trump's Move To Exclude Illegal Immigrants From Census

A federal court in New York has blocked President Donald Trump's recent order to exclude counting illegal immigrants for redrawing congressional districts. The court also prevented Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the person in charge of the department that oversees the Census Bureau, from excluding illegal immigrants when using population data to calculate how many House seats a state receives. 

Does the Order Violate the Law?

The judges wrote that the Presidential Memorandum clearly violates two regulations governing the census. The first is that the Secretary is required to provide only one set of numbers to support the census system. They have to give a count of the total population by State under the census. The numbers are given to the President, who then uses those numbers for appointment purposes. 

Dozens of states, including New York State, rallied against the move and brought the lawsuit against the administration. Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, joined in the case that followed the July 21 order from President Trump to exclude illegal immigrants in the 2020 Census. 

The total population of a state is used to calculate the congressional representation for that State. The judges ruled that this includes illegal immigrants – and always has in the past.