U.S. Supreme Court justices today are set to review President Donald Trump’s move to exclude illegal immigrants from the population used to allocate congressional districts to states., An aspect of his tough stance on immigration in the final weeks of his tenure.
The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, including three judges appointed by Trump, is scheduled to hear an 80-minute oral argument by telecommunications. The judges will decide the case on a speedy schedule and a verdict is due by the end of this year. It will be difficult for those elected president Joe Biden To reconsider it if Trump’s plan is confirmed.
Those challenging Trump’s July order include various New York-led states, cities, counties and immigration rights groups. They argued that the Republican president’s move would count millions of people and that California, Texas and New Jersey would lose seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
House districts are based on the population of a state in the National Census of the Decade.
Lawrence Hurley told Reuters that challengers told Trump that Trump’s plan would weaken their political influence by reducing their actual population, including more Democrats in California, by losing a large number of illegal immigrants and losing their House seats. If California loses House districts, Democrats will lose House seats, which will benefit Republicans.
11 million immigrants live illegally in the United States.
Until now, it has been the practice of the government to count all people, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The U.S. Constitution requires that House seats be divided on the basis of “the total number of persons in each state.”
Opponents have argued that Trump’s policy violates both the Constitution and the Census Act, a federal law that outlines how the census is conducted. Trump’s attorneys said in court documents that he acted within his authority and did not have the legal standing challenges needed to bring the case to light.
The census does not collect data on a person’s citizenship or immigration status. The Trump administration will base its numbers on data collected elsewhere, although it does not explain the methods used. The U.S. Census Bureau said, “Once we have finalized, we will publish the guidelines for providing state-wide numbers.”
By law, the president is to send a report to Congress in early January with the population of each state and the number of their districts.
Once the states set aside their districts, they themselves draw the boundaries for the districts, which will be used first in the 2022 congressional elections.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last year against Trump’s attempt to include the question of citizenship in the census. Critics say the question is aimed at intimidating immigrants into participating in the population, artificially reducing the population in more democratic areas, and benefiting Republicans.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Liberal judges in that ruling. But Trump’s third appointment, the inclusion of Amy Connie Barrett in court, changes its movement.
