WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday has agreed to hear oral arguments over President Donald Trump’s effort to exclude illegal immigrants from the population totals used to allocate congressional districts to states.
As reported on Reuters, the court, likely to soon have a 6-3 conservative majority if the Republican-controlled Senate confirms Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett, will hear the case on Nov 30.
The challengers to Trump’s July directive, including various states led by New York, cities, counties and immigrant rights groups, said it could leave several million people uncounted and likely cause California, Texas and New Jersey to lose seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. They alleged the policy could also deter people from participating in the census and argue that it violates both the Constitution and the Census Act, a federal law that outlines how the census is conducted.
The U.S. Constitution ensures that the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives is based on the “whole number of persons in each state.” The population number is derived from the census, which takes place every 10 years.