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Justices to Weigh Trump Census Plan to Exclude Noncitizens

Associated Press

   WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up President
   Donald Trump's policy, blocked by a lower court, to exclude people
   living in the U.S. illegally from the census count that will be used to
   allocate seats in the House of Representatives.

   Never in U.S. history have immigrants been excluded from the population
   count that determines how House seats, and by extension Electoral
   College votes, are divided among the states, a three-judge federal
   panel said in September when it held Trump's policy illegal.

   The justices put the case on a fast track, setting arguments for Nov.
   30. A decision is expected by the end of the year or early in January,
   when Trump has to report census numbers to the House.

   Trump's high court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, could take part in the
   case if, as seems likely, she is confirmed by then.

   Citizenship question

   Last year, the court by a 5-4 vote barred Trump from adding a census
   question asking people about their citizenship. Justice Ruth Bader
   Ginsburg, who died last month, was part of that slim majority. Barrett
   would take Ginsburg's seat.

   Trump left it to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the
   Census Bureau, to figure out how many immigrants are not living legally
   in each state.

   The outcome of the census case could affect the distribution of
   political power for the next 10 years. The census also helps determine
   the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding annually.

   The administration told the court that the president retains
   "discretion to exclude illegal aliens from the apportionment based on
   their immigration status."

   The American Civil Liberties Union, representing a coalition of
   immigrant advocacy groups, said Trump's violation of federal law is
   "not particularly close or complicated."

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