La. Republicans: Keep aliens off census

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- The head of the Louisiana Republican Party wants to exclude illegal aliens from being counted in the 2010 federal census, party officials said.

Roger Villere, chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, said if illegal immigrants were counted in the census, Louisiana would probably lose a member of its congressional delegation, dropping from seven to six members in the House of Representatives, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Sunday.

Federal policy mandates counting all residents at the time the census is conducted, regardless of residents' legal status, the newspaper said.

"If they do not count the illegal aliens, we would not lose a seat despite population declines caused by recent hurricanes," Villere said.

He said a decision would come by the end of the year on whether to file a lawsuit or lobby the federal executive and legislative branches for a policy change to exclude illegal aliens.

An estimated 8 million illegal aliens living in the United States receive taxpayer-funded healthcare, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said.