ACLU Comment on Biden Revocation of Trump Anti-Immigrant Census Policy

NEW YORK — President Biden has reportedly rescinded a Trump administration order that sought to illegally exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives and votes in the Electoral College.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the Trump administration’s discriminatory census policies: It successfully challenged the administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaire, and argued a case last year regarding the administration’s attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from the population count used for congressional apportionment.

The latter case was brought by the ACLU, NYCLU, the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU of Southern California, and the law firm Arnold & Porter, on behalf of a coalition of immigrant rights groups, including the New York Immigration Coalition, Make the Road New York, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, CASA, FIEL Houston, and AHRI for Justice.

Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, argued the Supreme Court census challenges and had the following reaction to today’s policy rescission:

"President Biden’s swift action today finally closes the book on the Trump administration’s attempts to manipulate the census for political gain.

“The Constitution couldn’t be clearer — everyone in America counts. By rescinding Trump’s anti-immigrant census policy on Day One, the Biden administration is signaling that protecting the integrity of the census is essential for a healthy democracy.”

Case details: https://www.aclu.org/cases/new-york-immigration-coalition-v-trump