President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Tuesday that would exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in congressional districts when district lines are redrawn next year.
WashingtonPresident Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Tuesday that would exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in congressional districts when district lines are redrawn next year. The memorandum marks the Trump administration’s latest effort to change the way US populations are counted and advance the President’s immigration agenda. And like previous efforts, the issue will end up in court. “I have accordingly determined that respect for the law and protection of the integrity of the democratic process warrant the exclusion of illegal aliens from the apportionment base, to the extent feasible and to the maximum extent of the President’s discretion under the law,” the order states. The American Civil Liberties Union plans to challenge the memo, Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said in a statement. “(Trump’s) latest attempt to weaponize the census for an attack on immigrant communities will be found unconstitutional. We’ll see him in court, and win, again,” Ho said. Read More Trump has long sought to use the US census as a way to advance his immigration priorities but the Supreme Court rejected an attempt to ask respondents if they are US citizens in 2019. The administration, however, is allowed to collect information on citizenship status by other means.
