The US Supreme Court started a busy week hearing oral arguments regarding unauthorized immigrants’ status in the US census. Trump v. New York hopes to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the US census. Excluding these immigrants would affect how many representatives a state has in The House of Representatives. The Supreme Court seemed reluctant to issue a concrete verdict after the oral arguments ended earlier today. This article will go over the arguments in Trump v. New York. We will also discuss the reaction of the Supreme Court after oral arguments began.
The Argument for Exclusion in Trump Vs. New York
In July, the Trump administration issued a memo seeking a new approach to counting the US census. President Donald Trump stated that unauthorized immigrants should be excluded from the US census. It was common practice in America’s history to include every resident living in a state and not just those with legal status. The memorandum stated, “For the purpose of the reapportionment of representatives following the 2020 census, it is the policy of the United States to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status.”
The Trump administration’s memo argues the amount of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States is so large in some states it is affecting the makeup of congressional districts. For example, the state of California has an estimated 2.2 million unauthorized immigrants living within its border. These unauthorized immigrants give California two to three additional seats in the House of Representatives. The Trump administration claims these immigrants grant individual states too much influence in the US government.
The Argument Against Exclusion in Trump vs. New York
Before Trump v. New York moved to the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel of the Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled on the matter. The court found that excluding unauthorized immigrants from the US census was unconstitutional. The US Constitution laid forth a plan for the US to hold a census every ten years. The Constitution defined the census as the “whole number of persons in each state.” The District Court ruled that with this language in mind, the framers intended everyone to be counted in the census regardless of legal status.
New York and a coalition of other states also argued that excluding unauthorized immigrants would severely damage several states’ diversity. States like Texas, California, and New Jersey would all be at risk of losing house seats. The coalition feared that Trump and the RNC hoped this exclusion would remove seats historically held by Democrats allowing Republicans to gain more control in the House of Representatives.
A Reluctant Supreme Court
After the Federal District Court ruling in Manhattan, the Trump administration requested an appeal, and the case was moved to the Supreme Court. On Monday, November 30, the Supreme Court began to hear oral arguments on the case. After several hours, conservative members of the Supreme Court seemed reluctant to give a ruling on the matter. The Supreme Courts’ main reluctance is that apportionment is not yet completed, and therefore, they are not sure about the number of people who will be excluded from the census. In a statement, Chief Justice John Roberts had this to say, “ We don’t know how many aliens will be excluded, we don’t know what effect of that will be on apportionment. All these questions would be resolved if we wait until the apportionment takes place.”
The Future for Unauthorized Immigrants in America
The future of unauthorized immigrants in the US census remains uncertain. We won’t know how many unauthorized immigrants live in America until the apportionment concludes later next year. With a more conservative Supreme Court, we may see these immigrants excluded from the US census. Experts believe we should have a ruling around March or April.
Bibliography
Administration, Trump. “Memorandum on Excluding Illegal Aliens From the Apportionment Base Following the 2020 Census.” The White House, The United States Government, 21 July 2020, www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-excluding-illegal-aliens-apportionment-base-following-2020-census/.
Bufkin, Ellie. “Busy Week for the Supreme Court Kicks off with Census Arguments over Illegal Immigrants.” KTXS, Sinclair Broadcast Group, 30 Nov. 2020, ktxs.com/news/nation-world/busy-week-for-the-supreme-court-kicks-off-with-census-arguments-over-illegal-immigrants.
Felter, Claire, et al. “The U.S. Immigration Debate.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 23 June 2020, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-immigration-debate-0?gclid=Cj0KCQiAzZL-BRDnARIsAPCJs71ZZ7k9GBQLV6Se6Q35UVDt8EsYZbFq6EB1t8f1N8E_axsg_0YPM-0aAmBqEALw_wcB.
Hurley, Lawrence, and Andrew Chung. “Conservative Justices Wary of Blocking Trump Immigrant Census Plan.” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 30 Nov. 2020, in.reuters.com/article/usa-court-census/u-s-supreme-court-mulls-trump-bid-to-exclude-illegal-immigrants-from-population-count-idUSKBN28A1B5.
Liptak, Adam. “Supreme Court Takes Up Trump Plan to Exclude Unauthorized Immigrants in Redistricting.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Nov. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/us/supreme-court-immigrants-redistricting.html.
