U.S. Supreme Court punts on challenge to Trump’s efforts to keep undocumented immigrants out of Census count

In a 6-3 ruling Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to President Donald Trump’s efforts to have undocumented immigrants excluded from census reapportionment totals. 

Calling the suit filed by the state of New York “premature,” the court wrote that the suit was “not suitable for adjudication at this time.” 

The vote fell along party lines, with the court’s three liberal justices dissenting. 

The dismissal allows Trump’s effort to exclude undocumented immigrants to move forward, while leaving the possibility open for future legal challenges. 

In July, Trump issued a memorandum directing the Department of Commerce, which oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count. 

Trump administration excludes undocumented immigrants from census reapportionment process

This summer, following the news of Trump efforts to have undocumented immigrants excluded, The Pennsylvania commissions on Asian Pacific American, African American, Latino, Women and LGBTQ Affairs, and the Governor’s 2020 Census Complete Count Commission spoke out against the action. 

“Excluding any resident from the Census runs counter to the Constitutional mandate to ‘count every person in the US,’” a joint statement from the groups read.