A handful of controversies have already emerged around next year's population count. Once again, undocumented immigrants have come on the agenda. At the same time, Poles and other ethnic groups are protesting that the Census won't be an accurate means of estimating the size of their ethnic communities.

The Polonia's arguments are pretty justified. The population count is a great opportunity to determine the number of people with Polish roots. The Census Bureau has already started printing the questionnaires; however, "Polish" does not appear among the choices for nationality/race. There is little chance for changing the forms now. Poles will have to resort to writing down our ethnicity in pencil next to the corresponding question. It seems that in regards to the size of the Polish population, we will have to rely on the results of surveys of a smaller sample of individuals done in-between census counts.

The latest initiatives that have emerged from Congress have raised a lot more concerns though. Senator Bob Bennett and Congressman Jason Chaffetz (both Republicans representing Utah) proposed separate bills demanding supplementing the census questionnaires with questions on the individual's immigration status. They are arguing that some regions of the country have more representation in Congress and substantial federal assistance only because they have a large immigrant population.

These proposals have a limited chance of being approved due to constitutional parameters; however, they constitute a dangerous precedence.

They also bring back fears that Census data will be used by other federal agencies. Politicizing the population count will scare away immigrants – not just the undocumented ones – and will lead to the miscounting of hundreds of thousands of people.

Current Census analyses already predict a smaller response, compared to 10 years ago, in next year's population count. Census representatives will have to knock on 47 million doors and they will not be welcomed at many of them.

It is worth remembering the constitutional goal of the population count: determining, as precisely as possible, the number of people living in the United States. And let it be so.

Any attempts to politically manipulate the Census may bring catastrophic effects. There is a lot of distrust against the Census anyway, not only among the undocumented, but also among citizens who, simply put, do not like the government.

A precise count of the population is extremely important in determining numbers within a political district and thus its share of federal funding. The lack of accurate demographic data for the country may have catastrophic repercussions in times of natural disasters such as hurricanes, fires, floods or earthquakes. Sending inadequate assistance to victims of these disasters is just another potential consequence if the Census ends up undercounting the nation's population.