The United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the Trump government’s lawsuit that undocumented immigrants should not be included in 2020 Census counts. Oral arguments were heard on Monday, November 30, and the judges will rule by December 31 in order to meet Census deadlines, which give the president 10 days after December 31 to report to Congress on the number of House seats allocated to each state.
Whether or not to include undocumented immigrants in census counts can determine:
• how many Democratic or Republican of the 435 House of Representative seats are allocated to each state
• the number of electoral votes each state is given for presidential elections
• the allocation of billions of dollars in federal aide
Three lower courts have earlier ruled that the President’s memo to not include undocumented is a violation of census statutes, or of the Constitution, or both.
Removing undocumented residents from the census count would impact some Democratic states and impact how many Democratic seats are in the House; mainly New York, Texas and California. The states have large populations of immigrants, and California could potentially lose 2-3 seats if undocumented immigrants are not counted in the 2020 census.
Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration could not include questions about citizenship on the census. In July, President Trump signed a memorandum to exclude 2020 Census counts of undocumented immigrants from being included in congressional district census reapportionment.
Due to the COVID pandemic, Census Bureau officials have said it is unlikely they will finish the population count in the states until the end of January, at the earliest, despite the December 31 deadline. As President-elect Biden will be sworn in a President on January 21, 2o21, President Biden will be responsible for reapportioning House seats and Electoral College votes.
The attorneys at Godoy Law Office work with you to evaluate your immigration status and guide you in your journey to becoming a US citizen. If you need help with an immigration issue, please contact our office at 855-554-6369.
