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The Trump administration will face its final Supreme Court challenge regarding immigration policies on Monday. The administration will pursue the right to bar undocumented immigrants from being included in the census count that allocates congressional representation and federal funds. Excluding undocumented immigrants from the census count will change over two centuries of practice in a nation that always included non-citizens, as well as those in the U.S. illegally. The Trump administration is rushing to finish the count and to submit a report to Congress before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20. Bloomberg Law
In other federal immigration news…
Biden May Be Stuck With Trump Immigration Policies
Biden plans to reverse the Trump administration’s immigration policies, which will not be easy. One of Biden’s pledges is to raise the refugee admission cap to 125,000, an increase from Trump’s record low cap of 15,000 that he set for 2021. Historically low refugee admissions have severely weakened the infrastructure for admitting refugees, so it will have to be rebuilt before restoring the 125,000 cap. Biden transition officials are also concerned that if they roll back Trump’s asylum restrictions, more people will try to cross the border before the U.S. has the capacity to handle them. These infrastructure issues may force the Biden administration to at least temporarily keep some Trump policies in place. CNN
Mayorkas Brings Immigration Experience to DHS
Some immigrant advocates are optimistic about Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas. Mayorkas, who will be the first Latino to head DHS if he’s confirmed, was instrumental in creating and implementing the Deferred Actions for Childhood Arrivals program as DHS deputy secretary under Obama. He also headed the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service, where he oversaw the country’s naturalization and immigration system. Gaby Pacheco of TheDream.US, a nonprofit organization that helps undocumented youths, called Mayorkas “a man of his words, which is really key and important,” but promised to “hold him accountable.” VOA
