The US District Court for the Southern District of New York Thursday blocked President Trump from excluding undocumented immigrants in certain census counts. More than 20 states and cities had filed the lawsuit in response to a presidential memorandum issued in late July.

This memorandum sought to reapportion the House of Representatives by excluding undocumented immigrants from the apportionment base. To do so, Trump requested the Census Bureau conduct two counts, one of which would not count such immigrants among the “whole number of persons in each State.”

Trump alleged that such exclusion would align with “the principles of representative democracy underpinning our system of Government.” However, more than 20 states and cities argued that such exclusion would violate the US Constitution and various federal statutes.

The court determined that the president lacked authority to change the apportionment base. Furthermore, the court concluded that a person’s residency, rather than legal status, determined their inclusion in a state’s population.