A panel of federal judges in Manhattan aggressively questioned the Trump administration about its plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the final Census tally that will be used to reapportion congressional seats. New York state filed the lawsuit on behalf of more than 20 other states, as well as cities like Chicago, and immigrant-rights groups.

The plaintiffs cite the 14th Amendment, which requires a state's number of representatives be determined by the "whole number of persons in each state."

NPR correspondent Hansi Lo Wang covers the Census, and listened to the virtual hearing. He says judges pressed Justice Department attorneys about how the Census Bureau would implement Trump's plan, since the form doesn't record respondents' immigration status.

Wang says the case is the just the latest drama surrounding the Census, after delays related to the pandemic and the Trump administration's announcement that it will be ending this year's tally a month earlier than originally scheduled. "This legal battle just adds more uncertainty to the national count," he says. 

Listen to Wang's full conversation with WNYC's Jami Floyd, above.