''Trump v. New York'', 592 U.S. ___ (2020), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case dealing with the
2020 United States Census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
. It centered on the validity of a July 2020
executive memorandum from President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
to the
Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...
, which conducts and reports the Census. The memo ordered the Department to exclude the estimated counts of
illegal immigrants
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...
from the results of the Census. The memo was challenged by a coalition of
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
s led by
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
along with several cities and other organizations suing to block action on the memo. The
found for the states and blocked enforcement of the memo, leading Trump to seek emergency relief asking the Supreme Court to rule on the matter before the results of the Census were due on December 31, 2020. The Court issued a ''
per curiam
In law, a ''per curiam'' decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively (and typically, though not ...
'' decision on December 18, 2020, vacating the District Court's ruling and dismissing the case because lack of
standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
and
ripeness
In United States law, ripeness refers to the readiness of a case for litigation; "a claim is not ripe for adjudication if it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all." For example, if a ...
made the case premature. The same decision was reached by the court on December 18, 2020, for the similar "Trump v. Useche" case.
While multiple states vowed to bring the case back to the Supreme Court immediately after the required Census results were reported, thereby establishing standing and ripeness, the
Trump Administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
struggled immensely with implementation (due in part to the Supreme Court case ''
Department of Commerce v. New York
''Department of Commerce v. New York'', No. 18–966, 588 U.S. ___ (2019), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with the 2020 United States Census. The case concerned the decision of the United States Census Bureau ...
''). Ultimately, Trump's successor after the
2020 election,
Joe Biden, issued
Executive Order 13986
Executive Order 13986, officially titled Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census, is the second executive order signed by U.S. President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. The order reverses Exec ...
which required non-citizens to be counted in the 2020 Census, both for the purposes of enumeration and determining congressional apportionment, thereby reversing the order issued by the Trump administration and ending the controversy.
Background
Article One, section 2, clause 3 of the United States Constitution directs the
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
be enumerated at least once every ten years and the resulting counts used to
set the number of members from each state in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
and, by extension, in the
Electoral College.
During the debates surrounding the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Often considered as one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and ...
, "many members of Congress urged that only citizens or voters should be counted in determining congressional representation, insisting that foreigners who had arrived in America should not count for purposes of apportioning representatives to Congress." After seven months of debate, this language was not adopted.
The 2020 Census is considered to have become a highly politicized event under President Trump.
Trump ran on a platform to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in the United States. As preparations for the Census approached, the
Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...
, which manages the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, announced its intention to reintroduce a question on the Census asking about one's immigration status within the Census' "short form" which would be sent to all households. The Department's intentions of this question were unclear, and many states, cities, and advocacy groups feared the question would lead some immigrants, including those with legal status in the country, to not answer the Census, undercounting populations and affecting government representation and federal funding over the next decade. These states and other groups sued, and in the Supreme Court case ''Department of Commerce v. New York'', the Court ruled in June 2019 that the rationale provided by the Commerce Department was
arbitrary and capricious
In law, the standard of review is the amount of Judicial deference, deference given by one court (or some other appellate tribunal) in reviewing a decision of a lower court or tribunal. A low standard of review means that the decision under review ...
, and forbid the Department from including the question unless they could provide a better explanation. The Department opted not to include the question on the final forms that went out.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, Trump stated he still planned to use other means to estimate the number of undocumented immigrants as part of the Census report. On July 21, 2020, he signed a memo to the Department of Commerce, "Memorandum On Excluding Illegal Aliens From the Apportionment Base Following the 2020 Census". The order instructed the Department to exclude the estimated number of undocumented immigrants (those not covered by the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...
) from the totals when they submit their report documenting the Census results by December 31, 2020. The administration argued that the apportionment clause of
Article One of the Constitution does not define which "which persons must be included in the apportionment base" for the Census count. Since the Census has normally excluded immigrants that have only temporarily been in the country such as diplomats, the administration argued this gave Trump the freedom to exclude these undocumented immigrants.
At least three separate legal challenges against the memo were filed within the week of the memo's signing. One case was filed by
Common Cause
Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...
in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...
. Two others were filed in
; one by a coalition of 22 states, the District of Columbia, 15 cities, and the
United States Conference of Mayors
The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...
, and another filed the
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
and
New York Civil Liberties Union
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a civil rights organization in the United States. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, it is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with nearl ...
. All three suits generally argued that the interpretation of "persons" from the Constitution as argued by the administration was gravely flawed given past case history and how the census has historically been conducted, and that the memo represented another arbitrary and capricious rulemaking decision. Analysis by the
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
based on population trends estimated that at least four states, California, Texas, Florida, and Arizona, could lose a Representative should illegal immigrants be discounted in the Census total, while Montana would be set to gain a seat.
The two cases in the Southern District of New York were combined, and its ruling was issued on September 10, 2020, blocking enforcement of the memo. The three-judge panel ruled that while the President has some discretion of how the Census results are reported, the authority to deviate from the Constitution statute, requiring "a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State", can only be set forth by Congress, and thus the memo exceeds the authority that the President has been given by Congress, ruling it invalid.
Supreme Court
Trump petitioned the Supreme Court for an expedited hearing given the nearness of the December 31 deadline following the District Court's ruling. The petition asks to challenge the
standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
of the states and cities to be able to take legal action against the memo, as well as to affirm the administration's interpretation of "persons" in the apportionment clause. The Supreme Court certified the petition on October 16, 2020, and with oral hearings held on November 30, 2020.
Observers to the hearing said that the Court, including its conservative members, appeared to doubt the claims that the President could alter who was counted via the Census, but as there was yet no Census data to review, the Justices also appeared uncertain how to proceed. The court observers believed that the Justices were likely not to act quickly to stop the order and may wait for the results to be collected and how that could impact federal representation to judge how to handle the case.
The Court issued a ''per curiam'' decision on December 18, 2020, which vacated the District Court's ruling and remanded the case to that court with orders to dismiss it. The opinion stated that there were issues with both
standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
and
ripeness
In United States law, ripeness refers to the readiness of a case for litigation; "a claim is not ripe for adjudication if it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all." For example, if a ...
to the case that made it premature. The Court stated they did not consider the constitutional merits of the case: "Consistent with our determination that standing has not been shown and that the case is not ripe, we express no view on the merits of the constitutional and related statutory claims presented. We hold only that they are not suitable for adjudication at this time."
Justice
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
wrote a dissent, which was joined by Justices
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
and
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...
. Breyer's dissent stated that the Court should have considered the case to evaluate the Executive Order since it was aimed to discount people from the Census count.
References
External links
*
{{USArticleIII
2020 in United States case law
United States Constitution Article One case law
United States Constitution Article Three case law
United States ripeness case law
United States standing case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court
United States Census Bureau
Trump administration controversies
Immigration to the United States
Donald Trump litigation