President Donald Trump is expected to soon issue an executive order that would ban undocumented immigrants from being included in the 2020...
President Donald Trump is expected to soon issue an executive order that would ban undocumented immigrants from being included in the 2020 census count of every person living in the United States, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, had no details of the order.
The timing of the order was unclear. It was possible it could be issued as early as Friday, the source said.
The move would once again inject a controversial social issue into the public discourse, at a time when the the president is suffering poor public approval for his handling of the coronavirus. The U.S. had more than 70,000 infections Thursday.
The government's census count helps in determining where taxpayer money is spent for building public facilities like schools, hospitals and fire departments, as well as calculating states' apportionment in the U.S. House of Representatives.
President Donald Trump is expected to soon issue an executive order that would ban undocumented immigrants from being included in the 2020 census
The Trump administration has long sought to use the census as a vehicle to identify, and possibly limit the political power of, undocumented immigrants. In 2018, the administration said it would ask respondents to the 2020 census whether they were citizens, a move ultimately nixed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
At the time, immigration advocates argued the question would frighten Hispanics and immigrants into abstaining from the census, potentially costing their communities political representation and federal aid dollars that are doled out based on population.
Immigration rights activists celebrate the US Supreme Court decision to reject efforts to dismantle the DACA 'Dreamers' program in Los Angeles, California USA, 18 June 2020
U.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants caught near a section of privately-built border wall under construction on December 11, 2019 near Mission, Texas
People celebrate after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Trump administration bid to end a program that protects from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants, dubbed "Dreamers," outside the court in Washington, U.S., June 18, 2020
The move comes as districts with high numbers of undocumented immigrants push for all people to take the census for the division of federal resources
The Supreme Court issued a ruling last year that blocked the Administration from including a new citizenship question on the Census. Opponents argued it would deter many undocumented people from filling out the forms. Census data impact a raft of federal programs.
The 5-4 ruling, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, found that the question appeared 'contrived' and wasn't properly justified in the rule-making process.
Republicans close to Trump also wanted citizenship data so that conservative U.S. states could more easily exclude non-citizens when they redraw voting maps in the next round of redistricting, according to documents uncovered https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-census-redistricting-insight/republicans-want-census-data-on-citizenship-for-redistricting-idUSKCN1RK18D during litigation on the citizenship question.
Trump's power to limit the counting of immigrants is questionable. Longstanding Supreme Court precedent has interpreted the U.S. Constitution as requiring that U.S. House districts be based on total population. State-level legislative districts don't necessarily have to include non-citizens, but they are drawn by states, not the federal government.
A move by Trump to unilaterally change the rules would likely be met with litigation, said Jeffrey Wice, an attorney, census expert and Democratic redistricting adviser.
The White House called a 'lid' Friday afternoon, which usually indicates the president will not make any other movements or take major actions, although the White House often supersedes the guidance.
Politico reported early Friday morning that the immigration order was 'likely,' but had no details.
Late last month, the Census announced it had created two new political positions and installed a pair of political appointees – raising concerns among Democrats it signaled a move to shape results to the GOP's political advantage.
The agency announced that Nathaniel Cogley would be the new deputy director for policy. He is a professor at Tarleton State University in Texas. He was publicly critical of the Democrats' effort to impeach Trump. The other hire is Adam Korzeniewski, a former GOP political consultant who spent five years in the Marines. Both have served as advisors to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
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