The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let the president exclude illegal immigrants from the census count that determines the allocation of congressional seats and federal dollars.
The administration on Tuesday appealed a three-judge panel’s ruling that Congress hadn’t given the president authority for the policy. Acting U.S. Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall asked the justices to expedited handing of the case and potentially hear arguments in late November or early December.
Federal law requires the administration send to Congress the census tally by Jan. 10.
Trump issued a memorandum in July laying out the plan to exclude illegal immigrants. Advocacy groups and states including New York quickly sued, saying the president was trying to manipulate the count and deprive Democrat-leaning areas with high immigrant populations of congressional seats.
The Supreme Court last year blocked the administration’s effort to include a citizenship question on the decennial census.
The case is Trump v. State of New York, 20-366.
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