Press Releases

The Census Bureau has proposed rules for the 2030 Census that would remove millions of noncitizens from the population count used to divide congressional seats among the states. This includes many noncitizens living in the United States lawfully. The rules would also change where everyone else is counted and bar the census from asking about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The Constitution requires counting the “whole number of persons in each State,” and every census since 1790 has counted people where they live, regardless of citizenship. The proposal would distort political representation, weaken the count’s accuracy, and eliminate data needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act and other civil rights laws. The ALCU is urging the Bureau to withdraw the rule entirely.

The Supreme Court will hear Rhoney v. Barbosa da Cunha, stemming from our lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s unlawful policy that subjects millions of immigrants to mandatory detention without access to bond hearings. Mandatory detention has played a key role in this administration’s cruel and lawless campaign of mass deportations. This case will decide whether the government can upend how our laws have been understood and applied for decades to lock up millions of immigrants without a chance to show there is no justification for their detention while they fight their removal. The American Civil Liberties Union, New York Civil Liberties Union, Law Office of Paul O’Dwyer, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and MacArthur Justice Center are counsel in this case. Oral argument is expected in late February or early March 2027.