Since 1790, every 10 years, our government has attempted to gather an accurate count of Americans living in this country. This information is used for a variety of purposes including the distribution of federal funds and congressional representation.

Normally, the census is conducted in a non-political, fact finding manner; however, things have changed in the Obama administration. In May, it was revealed that ACORN, the troubled non-profit organization with a history of investigations and charges of illegal behavior will be partnering with other organizations to help the U.S. Census Bureau collect information on Americans. It has also been reported that the Obama White House will take a very active role in the 2010 census in contrast to previous administrations that allowed the Commerce Department free reign to conduct the fact gathering operation.

Of course, the census should not be politicized and should not be collaborating with a corrupt, left wing organization like ACORN. This week, an undercover sting operation by two independent filmmakers exposed ACORN representatives in the Baltimore office offering advice on how to illegally circumvent IRS laws. The filmmakers posed as a pimp and a prostitute and the ACORN “tax consultant” recommended that the prostitute report her occupation as a “performing artist.” The resulting uproar led to the firing of the two field officers, but the incident clearly showed what type of activity our tax dollars are funding at ACORN offices.

What is even worse is that a longstanding controversy has become an acute concern for the upcoming census. Typical census policy mandates an accurate count of not only legal residents, but illegal aliens as well. The census attempts to count every person living in the United States, legal or illegal. While this might be useful information for some purposes, it should not be used to determine the allocation of federal funds or congressional representation.

Recently, Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere sounded the alarm about the policy and warned that his organization would seek legal avenues to prevent illegal aliens from being counted as part of the 2010 census. Villere is worried that Louisiana will lose congressional representation because our state has fewer illegal aliens than California and other states located on the Mexican border.

According to Villere, “If they do not count the illegal aliens, we would not lose a seat.” So, for the sake of Louisiana and in the interest of fairness, illegal aliens should not be counted in the census. It is clear that federal policy rewards states that have lax immigration policies with additional tax dollars and congressional seats. In effect, states with fewer illegal aliens are punished, when, in reality, states like Louisiana should be rewarded.

Villere has every right to be concerned that Louisiana will lose a congressional seat. If that occurs, it will financially harm the people of Louisiana and give our legal residents fewer representatives in Congress. Democrats and Republicans throughout the state should support his efforts to stop this census practice.

The United States of America was the first nation to call for a mandatory census in its constitution. The Founding Fathers were very wise to implement the census to gather critical information about citizens in this country; however, they would be appalled to learn that today the census is being politicized, controlled by groups like ACORN and being used to benefit states with a huge population of illegal aliens.

It is time for law abiding Americans to speak out against these procedures and make sure that the 2010 census is not corrupted by politics and inflated with millions of illegal aliens. Congratulations to Roger Villere for addressing a matter which should be a concern for all citizens of Louisiana.

Jeff Crouere, a native of New Orleans and resident of Mandeville, is host of a Louisiana-based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and 10 p.m. Sundays on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM on the Northshore. For more information, visit his Web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.