The Supreme Court on Friday shut down a Trump administration effort to exclude illegal immigrants from the census count.

In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that since Trump lacked standing to order illegal immigrants not be counted, the court could not weigh in on the issue in any substantive way. In making an appeal to the Supreme Court, Trump was required to show that “an actual controversy must exist not only at the time the complaint is filed, but through all stages of the litigation.”

“At present, this case is riddled with contingencies and speculation that impede judicial review,” the court wrote in an unsigned majority opinion, adding that Trump has not been able to present standing that is not “conjectural or hypothetical” and has not demonstrated that the case is “ripe,” meaning not dependent on “contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all.”

“Consistent with our determination that standing has not been shown and that the case is not ripe, we express no view on the merits of the constitutional and related statutory claims presented,” the court wrote. “We hold only that they are not suitable for adjudication at this time.”

Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayer, wrote that “the uncertainty” about the timing of the case “does not warrant our waiting to decide the merits of the plaintiffs’ claim.”

Breyer added that in his view excluding anyone from the census is unlawful and the court should speak out on that fact.

The three liberal justices dissented, saying the effort to exclude people in the country from the population for divvying up House seats is unlawful.

“I believe this Court should say so,” he wrote.