USCIS Adjusts Fees to Help Meet Operational Needs

USCIS Adjusts Fees to Help Meet Operational Needs


WASHINGTON—Today, the Department of Homeland Security announced a final rule that adjusts fees for certain immigration and naturalization benefit requests to ensure U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recovers its costs of services.

Unlike most government agencies, USCIS is fee funded. Fees collected and deposited into the Immigration Examinations Fee Account fund nearly 97% of USCIS’ budget.

As required by federal law, USCIS conducted a comprehensive biennial fee review and determined that current fees do not recover the cost of providing adjudication and naturalization services. DHS is adjusting USCIS fees by a weighted average increase of 20% to help recover its operational costs. Current fees would leave the agency underfunded by about $1 billion per year.

“USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures and make adjustments based on that analysis,” said Joseph Edlow, USCIS deputy director for policy. “These overdue adjustments in fees are necessary to efficiently and fairly administer our nation’s lawful immigration system, secure the homeland and protect Americans.”

The rule accounts for increased costs to adjudicate immigration benefit requests, detect and deter immigration fraud, and thoroughly vet applicants, petitioners and beneficiaries. The rule also supports payroll, technology and operations to accomplish the USCIS mission. The rule removes certain fee exemptions, includes new nominal fees for asylum applicants, and reduces fee waivers to help recover the costs of adjudication.

This final rule also encourages online filing by providing a $10 reduction in the fee for applicants who submit forms online that are electronically available from USCIS. Online filing is the most secure, efficient, cost-effective and convenient way to submit a request with USCIS.

USCIS last updated its fee structure in December 2016 by a weighted average increase of 21%.
For a full list of changes and a complete table of final fees, see the final rule.

This final rule is effective Oct. 2, 2020. Any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after this date must include payment of the new, correct fees established by this final rule.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and LinkedIn (/uscis).

Also, for more information contact us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/

Tools Outage

Tools Outage


USCIS will conduct system maintenance to the Contact Relationship Interface System (CRIS) on Thursday, July 30th, at 11:59 p.m. through Friday, July 31st , at 3:00 a.m. Eastern.
During these time frames, users may experience technical difficulties with one or more of the following online tools:

• Check My Case Status
• e-Request
• Change of Address Online
• Check Processing Time
• Civil Surgeon Locator
• Office Locator
• File Online
• myUSCIS Online Account

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.


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Application Period Open for Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Programs

Application Period Open for Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Programs


WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is accepting applications for two funding opportunities under the Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program. The grant opportunities, mandated by Congress and funded with appropriations rather than the agency’s operating funds, will provide up to $10 million in grants for citizenship preparation programs in communities across the country.


These competitive grant opportunities are open to organizations that prepare lawful permanent residents for naturalization and promote civic assimilation through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history, and civics.

USCIS expects to announce award recipients in September 2020, if agency staff are available to review applications and oversee the program. However, should agency staff be furloughed in late August, USCIS anticipates that the grant program could be impacted or even terminated for the fiscal year.

USCIS seeks to expand availability of high-quality citizenship and assimilation services throughout the country with these two grant opportunities:

• Citizenship Instruction and Naturalization Application Services. This grant opportunity will fund up to 33 organizations that offer both citizenship instruction and naturalization application services to lawful permanent residents. Applications are due by Aug. 31.
• The Refugee and Asylee Assimilation Program. This grant opportunity will fund up to six organizations to provide individualized services to lawful permanent residents who entered the United States under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program or were granted asylum. Applications are due by Aug. 31.

USCIS will consider various program and organizational factors, including past grantee performance, when making final award decisions. In addition, all funded grant recipients must enroll in E-Verify as a regular employer within 30 days of receiving the award and remain as a participant in good standing with E-Verify throughout the entire period of grant performance. Funded grant recipients will be required to verify all new hires at hiring locations performing work on a program or activity that is funded in whole or in part under the grant. New to this year’s program is a prerequisite that applicants and sub-awardees certified under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) must comply with all SEVP requirements at the time of application.

Since it began in 2009, the USCIS Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program has awarded approximately $92 million through 434 grants to immigrant-serving organizations in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

To apply for one of these funding opportunities, visit grants.gov. For additional information on the Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program for fiscal year 2020, visit uscis.gov/grants or email the USCIS Office of Citizenship at citizenshipgrantprogram@uscis.dhs.gov.

For more information on USCIS and our programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), Instagram (/uscis), YouTube (/uscis) and Facebook (/uscis).

Also for more information contact us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/

Judd v. Weinstein

Judd v. Weinstein

California Civil Code §51.9 plainly encompasses the relationship between an influential, well-connected Hollywood producer and a young aspiring actress; this relationship consisted of an inherent power imbalance where the producer was uniquely situated to exercise coercion over the actress.

For more information contact us at http://www.beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com/

Explainer: Trump's Latest Move to Limit Deportation Protections for 'Dreamers'

Explainer: Trump's Latest Move to Limit Deportation Protections for 'Dreamers'
by Reuters

WASHINGTON — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump took steps on Tuesday to limit deportation protections for 'Dreamers' who are living in the United States illegally after entering as children.

The move follows Trump's defeat last month in the Supreme Court, which found that his administration had violated federal law in its initial attempt to end the program.

In a memorandum, the Trump administration said it would block any new applications to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and allow only renewals that last one year, down from the current two-year period.

The move could spark another legal fight over Trump's hardline immigration agenda as he gears up for reelection on Nov. 3.

WHAT IS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DOING WITH DACA?

In the memo on Tuesday, acting U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said he would limit the scope of the DACA program due to "serious concerns" about its legality and effects - including its potential to encourage illegal immigration - while the Trump administration reviews it.

In addition to blocking new DACA applications and imposing a one-year duration for renewals, the memo said that DACA recipients would only be granted permission to travel outside the country in "exceptional circumstances."

The memo comes after a federal judge in Maryland ordered the Trump administration on July 17 to fully restore the DACA program, a ruling that advocates say requires DHS to accept new applications.

WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SUPREME COURT?

Trump moved in 2017 to phase out the DACA program. His administration argued the initiative of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, was unconstitutional and would not withstand legal challenges.

Several federal courts blocked Trump's attempt to terminate the DACA program. The case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled in June that the Trump's administration's actions were "arbitrary and capricious" and violated federal regulatory law.

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision - with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the court's liberals - did not prohibit the Trump administration from again attempting to end the DACA program with proper legal procedures.

Trump signaled after the Supreme Court defeat that he would again attempt to terminate the DACA program.

WHAT IS THE DACA PROGRAM?

Obama announced DACA in 2012 after more than a decade of failed efforts to pass legislation in the U.S. Congress that would have provided a path to citizenship for so-called Dreamers.

The program offered unauthorized immigrants who came to the United States before age 16 the chance to obtain a work permit and a reprieve from imminent deportation.

Applicants were required to pass a criminal background check to ensure they had not been convicted of a felony or significant misdemeanor. They needed to have completed high school, still be in school or have served in the U.S. military.

The Obama administration said the program would allow immigration officers to focus on higher-priority offenders. Critics called it an abuse of executive power.

WHO IS ENROLLED IN DACA?

About 644,000 people are enrolled, according to the most recent government data. Nine out of 10 are immigrants born in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. More than half live in California, Texas, Illinois, New York and Florida.

The average age of DACA enrollees is 26, with slightly more women than men, according to the latest statistics.

A 2017 analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Migration Policy Institute found the top occupations for immigrants in the program were food preparation and serving, sales, office and administrative support, and construction.

WHERE DO EMPLOYERS STAND?

Major U.S. companies support DACA and have hired work-eligible beneficiaries.

In an October 2019 brief in the Supreme Court case, 125 companies - including Amazon, Facebook, Google and Starbucks - said ending the program would "inflict serious harm" on employers, workers and the U.S. economy. They were joined by 18 major business associations.

DACA enrollees hold thousands of jobs in the medical field, a point backers have raised during the coronavirus pandemic.

Plaintiffs defending the program noted in a Supreme Court brief earlier this year that 27,000 DACA recipients are healthcare workers, including nurses, pharmacists and home care aides. Nearly 200 are medical students, residents and physicians, the brief said.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson, editing by Ross Colvin and Rosalba O'Brien)

For more information contact us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/

With Election Looming, Trump Hardens Stance Against 'Dreamer' Immigrant Program

With Election Looming, Trump Hardens Stance Against 'Dreamer' Immigrant Program
by Reuters

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, bolstering his tough immigration stance in an election year, said on Tuesday it will reject any new applications for the so-called 'Dreamer' immigrant program and shorten the deportation protections of those whose eligibility is soon to expire.

A senior administration official said there would be a lengthy review of a Supreme Court ruling last month that found the administration had erred in the way that it had decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, in which some 644,000 immigrants are enrolled.

The administration said it would still consider ending the program, which shields from deportation hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the United States illegally after entering as children - a group often called 'Dreamers.'

Reuters was first to report the administration plan.

The review is likely to take at least 100 days, putting off any final decision on the program until after the Nov. 3 election in which Trump is fighting for a second term against Democrat Joe Biden.

As he attempts to close the gap with Biden in the polls, the timing gives Trump breathing room on a program that is popular among many Americans. At the same time, the steps to limit the deportation protections could help to drive up enthusiasm among his core supporters.

Asked at a news conference on Tuesday whether he was still considering a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, Trump said: "We are going to make... the DACA people and representatives happy, and we're also going to end up with a fantastic merit-based immigration system." He did not elaborate.

The administration plans to continue its existing policy of not accepting new DACA applicants, a policy in place since 2017, the official told Reuters. It will extend the eligibility by a year for those DACA immigrants whose protection from deportation was due to expire, as long as they do not have a criminal record, the official said.

The previous policy had been to extend the eligibility for two years.

In addition, a memorandum issued by the Department of Homeland Security said permits allowing DACA recipients to travel outside the country would only be issued in "exceptional circumstances."

"These actions will limit the scope of the program while DHS and the administration review its legality, justifications for a possible wind-down and other considerations relevant to deciding whether to keep or wind down the DACA policy," the official said.

In justifying his concerns about the policy, acting secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said the program was sending "mixed messages" on immigration enforcement.

"DACA makes clear that, for certain large classes of individuals, DHS will at least tolerate, if not affirmatively sanction, their ongoing violation of the immigration laws," the memo said.

Trump has made his hardline stance on both legal and illegal immigration a central platform of his presidency and his 2020 re-election campaign, but DACA is a complicated issue for him because of increasing public support of the program.

A February Reuters/Ipsos poll found 64% of adult respondents supported DACA's core tenets. A similar December 2014 poll found that 47% of adults supported DACA.

DECISION CRITICIZED

Leon Rodriguez, former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under President Barack Obama, said the move to limit the scope of the DACA program - which was introduced in 2012 under Obama - appeared to go against the intent of the Supreme Court ruling.

"So they think they can get away with half ending DACA renewals and persisting in not opening up first time DACA applications?" Rodriguez said. "Doubt that's what the Supreme Court had in mind."

Sanaa Abrar, advocacy director for immigrant rights organization United We Dream, said it was "outrageous they are absolutely refusing to do what the Supreme Court ruled, which was to return the program to its original 2012 state."

The Supreme Court left the door open for Trump to try again to rescind the program, ruling only that the administration had not met procedural requirements and its actions were "arbitrary and capricious."

The senior administration official said the administration will conduct "an exhaustive review" of the memos that it initially used to justify the winding down of the program.

"We're going to review all of that and all the underlying communications that informed those documents, so that when the administration next acts on DACA, it will be anchored on this comprehensive review," the official said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Ted Hesson and Mica Rosenberg, Editing by Ross Colvin and Rosalba O'Brien)

For more information contact us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/

Trump Administration Won't Accept New DACA Applications

Trump Administration Won't Accept New DACA Applications
by The Associated Press

CHICAGO — The Trump administration said Tuesday that it will reject new applications and shorten renewal periods for an Obama-era program that shields young people from deportation, taking a defiant stance after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to let it be scrapped completely.

The move, detailed in a memo from Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, ended a month of uncertainty about how the administration would respond to its Supreme Court defeat in an election year that has President Donald Trump looking for ways to energize his base.

Wolf said the administration may try to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program again, casting it as a law enforcement issue that could contribute to illegal immigration. He said the federal government needs more time to consider next steps, presenting the measures as a temporary change.

“DACA makes clear that, for certain large classes of individuals, DHS will at least tolerate, if not affirmatively sanction, their ongoing violation of the immigration laws,” Wolf wrote in the memo.

About 650,000 people are part of DACA, which allows young immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children to work and shields them from deportation. Roughly 66,000 people meet age requirements to apply, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

The government will deny all new applications, limit renewals to one year instead of two, and deny requests by DACA recipients to visit their home countries unless there are “exceptional circumstances.” Recipients may seek permission to return home for family events, such as funerals or weddings, and other reasons, though the Trump administration has generally denied them.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that Trump failed to follow rule-making procedures when he tried to end the program, but the justices kept a window open for him to try again.

The White House has been devising plans to make another push to end DACA, though it was not immediately clear whether he would make the politically sensitive move before November’s election. Democratic rival Joe Biden wants to keep DACA unconditionally.

A federal judge in Maryland ruled earlier this month that the program should be restored to its original form, but the administration was mum until Tuesday on whether it would start accepting new applications. The White House anticipates legal challenges.

The administration’s monthlong silence had unnerved many DACA recipients and those who wanted to join. U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm of Maryland, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has given the administration until the end of Friday to update the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ website and start adequately explaining why applications are rejected.

Legal experts were skeptical of the Trump administration's authority to roll back parts of the program.

“This is a move that is in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a federal court ruling,” said Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, an immigration law professor at Penn State Law in University Park, Pennsylvania. “It’s a lawless landscape that we are in.”

Immigrant rights advocates blasted the move as cruel.

The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition accused the administration of further marginalizing immigrants. The American Business Immigration Coalition called it economically harmful. And the American Civil Liberties Union vowed to continue its yearslong fight to prevent the program's demise.

Laura Mendoza, a program manager at The Resurrection Project in Chicago, joined DACA in 2013 and will have to renew next year. She said the $495 annual renewal fee would be difficult for many to pay.

“It’s infuriating that we continue to be the punching bag for the administration,” she said of fellow DACA recipients. “The administration is slowly dismantling the program."

Wolf, the Homeland Security chief, acknowledged that the $495 renewal fee will be a burden on DACA recipients who will have to apply annually instead of every other year, effectively doubling the cost. He said the department would consider lowering the fee.

Trump has tried unsuccessfully to work with Congress on a broader immigration package that would couple DACA with tougher enforcement measures. He has said lately that he would announce sweeping new steps on immigration, a promise he reiterated Tuesday.

“We’re going to work with a lot of people on DACA,” Trump told reporters. “And we’re also working on an immigration bill, a merit-based system, which is what I’ve wanted for a long time.”

Trump said he would make DACA recipients “happy” without saying how.

Top Democrats urged for a legislative solution that would allow for a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

“With the presidential election just three months away, it’s clear the president will do everything possible to rally his supporters at the expense of Dreamers,” according to a statement from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, referring to the name often used for DACA recipients. “They shouldn’t have to live under the constant fear that DACA protections will be ripped away at any moment.”

___

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.

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California, Florida, Texas Lose House Seats With Trump Order

California, Florida, Texas Lose House Seats With Trump Order
by The Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. — If President Donald Trump succeeds in getting immigrants in the country illegally excluded from being counted in the redrawing of U.S. House districts, California, Florida and Texas would end up with one less congressional seat each than if every resident were counted, according to an analysis by a think tank.

Without that population, California would lose two seats instead of one, Florida would gain one seat instead of two and Texas would gain two seats instead of three, according to the analysis by Pew Research Center.

Additionally, the Pew analysis shows Alabama, Minnesota and Ohio would each keep a congressional seat they most likely would have lost during the process of divvying up congressional seats by state known as apportionment, which takes place after the U.S. Census Bureau completes its once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident. The bureau currently is in the middle of the 2020 census.

Federal law requires the Census Bureau to hand over the final head-count numbers used for apportionment to the president at the end of the year, but the bureau is asking Congress for an extension until next April 30 because of disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Besides being used to divvy up congressional seats, the 2020 census results will help determine how many votes in the Electoral College each state gets and the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding.

Every resident of a state is traditionally counted during apportionment, but Trump last Tuesday issued a directive seeking to bar people in the U.S. illegally from being included in the headcount as congressional districts are redrawn. Trump said including them in the count “would create perverse incentives and undermine our system of government.”

At least four lawsuits or notices of a legal challenge have been filed seeking to halt the directive. Some opponents say it's an effort to suppress the growing political power of Latinos in the U.S. and to discriminate against immigrant communities of color. The lawsuits say there is no reliable method for counting people in the U.S. illegally and the order will diminish the accuracy of the census.

The president's directive breaks with almost 250 years of tradition and is unconstitutional, according to a lawsuit filed by Common Cause, the city of Atlanta and others in federal court in the District of Columbia. Other challenges have been filed or are in the process of being brought by the ACLU on behalf of immigrant rights groups, a coalition of states led New York Attorney General Letitia James and civil rights groups already suing the Trump administration over an effort to gather citizenship data through administrative records.

Trump issued the order to gather citizenship data on U.S. residents through administrative records last year after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his administration's effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form. Opponents said a citizenship question would have discouraged participation in the nation’s head count, not only by people living in the country illegally but also by citizens who fear that participating would expose noncitizen family members to repercussions.

The Democratic-led House Committee on Oversight and Reform is asking Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Census Bureau director Steven Dillingham and other officials to testify about the Republican president's directive at a hearing next Wednesday.

During a virtual news conference on Saturday, the chair of the House committee, Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, called the order “blatantly unconstitutional and illegal."

“Congress is empowered to determine how the census is conducted, not the president," Maloney said.

___

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All new DACA applications marked as 'pending' as Trump administration seeks to end the program

All new DACA applications marked as 'pending' as Trump administration seeks to end the program
by Tal Axelrod

© Getty Images

The Trump administration announced late Friday that all new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will be marked as “pending” as officials mull another attempt to scrap the program.

The announcement came during a telephonic federal court hearing in Maryland, according to The Associated Press, which was on the call.

The administration tried to repeal the Obama-era program, though the Supreme Court reversed the move last month, saying it was ended improperly. It opened the door to a future repeal, saying the administration just had to scrap the program in the proper manner.

Immigration activists have said that the government must resume accepting new DACA applications in light of the ruling. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had only been approving renewal applications for DACA recipients who were already enrolled by Sept. 5, 2017.

The government attorney, Stephen Michael Pezzi, said the agency is accepting new applications, but only on a tentative basis as the administration decides if it wants to pursue what is likely to be another contentious effort to repeal DACA. The judge, Paul Grimm, did not weigh in on if the government should accept or reject new applications as it mulls its next move, though he did give the administration 30 days to update its website with new guidance. 

The DACA program, in which about 650,000 people are currently enrolled, protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as minors from deportation.

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Lawyer: All New DACA Applications Put in 'Pending' Bucket

Lawyer: All New DACA Applications Put in 'Pending' Bucket
by The Associated Press

PHOENIX — The U.S. government said Friday that it’s putting new DACA applications in a “pending” bucket while officials decide whether to again try to end the program for young immigrants, keeping enrollment stalled even though the Supreme Court ruled last month that it was improperly ended.

The latest came during a telephonic federal court hearing in Maryland by U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm, who last week ruled that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program must be restored to its original form, before President Donald Trump attempted to end it in September 2017.

Immigrant advocates who sued the government over its attempt to end DACA say new rulings in the case, including the one by the Supreme Court, mean the government must resume accepting and considering first-time applications. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had only been accepting renewals for DACA recipients who were already enrolled by Sept. 5, 2017.

DACA allows young immigrants who were brought to the country as children to legally work and shields them from deportation. About 650,000 are enrolled, but another 66,000 now meet age requirements to join, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that the Trump administration didn’t properly end the program. The administration can still end it, but has to go about it differently.

In the meantime, lawyers with the nonprofit advocacy group Casa de Maryland, which filed one of the several lawsuits challenging the end of the program, say the Supreme Court ruling and two others mean DACA should revert to its original form — accepting new applications as well as requests to travel abroad, known as advanced parole.

A government attorney said Friday that USCIS hasn't updated its website to reflect that it is accepting new applications, and that it had rejected some new applications on incorrect grounds and others because they weren't filled out correctly or were missing information.

But the lawyer, Stephen Michael Pezzi, said that in general the agency is accepting new applications, putting them on tentative status while the administration decides what to do with DACA.

That means that any new applicants aren’t likely to be approved unless a court orders it or the administration decides to keep the program.

Grimm did not seem inclined to wade into whether the government should accept or reject new applications while it decides what to do with the program, but he did chide it for not having updated information on its website and for not explaining rejections to applicants who had flaws in their application, such as a missing signature.

“I think frankly the agency ought to be the first to want to have that corrected and it seems to me that we ought to be able to get some sense as to when that will be corrected,” Grimm said.

Grimm told the government he’d like the website to be updated within 30 days, and he gave its lawyers until next week to figure out whether USCIS can develop some sort of process where they acknowledge receipt of new applications so that applicants will know their status.

For more information contact us at http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/

States Sue Trump Over Order to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants From U.S. House Seat Counts

States Sue Trump Over Order to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants From U.S. House Seat Counts
by Reuters

NEW YORK — A coalition of 35 U.S. states, cities and counties sued President Donald Trump on Friday over his directive not to count undocumented immigrants when apportioning seats for the House of Representatives, a move that critics have said is designed to help Republicans.

Trump's plan, announced on Tuesday, could exclude several million people when determining how to apportion the 435 House seats, starting with the 2022 midterm elections. It could cause a few House seats to shift from Democratic-leaning states with large immigrant populations to Republican-leaning states.

The apportionment is also a basis for determining electoral votes for the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.

Among the mostly Democratic-leaning plaintiffs are New York state, the most populous plaintiff, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

The White House declined to comment.

In the complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, the plaintiffs called Trump's plan unconstitutional because everyone in the country must be counted regardless of their legal status.

They said this has been true since slavery was abolished in the 1860s, and that the Constitution requires a count based on the "whole number of persons" in each state, as counted in each decennial U.S. census.

The census is also a basis for allocating federal funds, and the plaintiffs said Trump's directive could hurt communities by deterring immigrants from responding to the census now under way.

In announcing the directive, Trump said "person" had "never been understood to include ... every individual physically present within a state's boundaries."

Alleged efforts to conceal the number of undocumented immigrants, he said, were "part of a broader left-wing effort" to erode the rights of American citizens, "and I will not stand for it."

Trump has made curbing legal and illegal immigration a focus of his presidency. He is seeking reelection and has trailed Democrat Joe Biden in some recent polls.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York and Alexandra Alper in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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