The U.S. Census Bureau announced on January 16, 2021, that it is complying with a court order in a case brought by the National Urban League against former President Trump's orders to exclude data on undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census. Specifically, the Bureau instructed its staff not to finalize, report, or publicly disclose any reports, estimates, or data relating to such orders before the change of administration, and to provide detailed notice before releasing any such information that is finalized. This action also followed complaints about how the Bureau's director was handling data on undocumented immigrants.

According to reports, apportionment data may not be available until March 2021, exceeding the statutory deadline of December 31, 2020. A memo issued January 12, 2021, by the Commerce Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG), the latest director of the U.S. Census Bureau under the Trump administration, stated that Director Steven Dillingham had been rushing to produce a technical report that would include data on documented and undocumented persons in the United States before the end of the Trump administration. Whistleblowers complained that they had not had "sufficient time to conduct their normal data quality checks" and expressed concern that the data required were "not ready for publication." The Commerce Department's memo further stated that Dr. Dillingham "inquired into a financial reward for speed on this directive." The OIG asked for information on various aspects of the report and the processes and timelines for producing it.

Subsequently, Dr. Dillingham resigned effective January 20, 2021, and Politico pronounced "dead" the Trump administration's push to exclude the undocumented from the Census.

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