WASHINGTON -- After more than 30 years of lobbying, people of Middle Eastern and North African descent are finally poised to get their own classification in the U.S. Census. But some are now questioning whether the new designation could lead to profiling or otherwise put them in danger.
The proposed addition would create a race and ethnicity category called MENA for people with origins in the Middle East and North Africa. It has been championed by organizations representing Arab-Americans and others with roots in the geographical swath from Iran to Morocco, who complain of being ignored in the decennial count.
The region contains a jumble of ethnic and racial categories, including people who identify as white or black, Arab or Aryan.
Details are still being hammered out, but as currently envisioned, people would be able to check the MENA box in addition to race identifiers such as "white" or "black." Within the new category, they would also be able to specify national origins, such as Saudi Arabian or Israeli, and ethnic affiliations such as Berber or Kurdish.
Sanaa Mehdi, 30, is originally from Morocco, but when filling out the census form in the past, the Washington resident has checked off "white." "That was the closest it came," she said, though she would have liked a more specific option. "I think it's a good thing to be able to choose where you're from exactly."
But to many, counting people with roots in majority-Muslim countries feels like a double-edged sword.
"If this helps provide some hard data, it's useful," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "But unfortunately in today's environment we have to have concerns about the possible misuse of this data. We've had too many problems in the post-9/11 era when the American government singles out Arab-Americans or Muslim Americans for profiling."
The Census Bureau has been testing different versions of a new form to see how likely respondents are to check the MENA category. A public comment period will end Oct. 31, and a final decision on the form will be made by the Office of Management and Budget. Congress must approve the questionnaire in 2018 in advance of the 2020 Census.
"This is a big deal," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. "The last time they did anything like this was with Hispanics before the 1980 census."
Historically, many people from the Middle East and North Africa have put down "white" when there's been no other option, a practice that dates back a century, when people from the region, concerned about legislation to restrict immigration by Asians and deny them U.S. citizenship, pushed to be counted as white instead of Asian.
In modern times, however, the lack of a distinct classification has held them back, advocates say, noting that census data is used in deciding how congressional districts are drawn and how to allocate funding for federal aid programs.
"To be a community that's invisible has been a real problem for us," said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute. The institute estimates there are around 3.7 million Arab-Americans in the U.S., with origins in 22 countries, but it does not know exactly how many or where they live.
"Whether it's a local school district trying to make decisions about English as a second language classes, or Voting Rights Act protections, or health research ... we'd love to be able to say 'This estimate is based on this data,'" Berry said. "It means we could have our category the same way 'Hispanic' does. ... People will be able to finally see themselves in the census."
Legally, people are protected from being identified through the census. But "when you have a candidate who's talking about violating this law, that gives people pause," said Jamal Abdi, policy director for the national Iranian American Council, referring to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. "That's the real push-back that we get from the community: that people are worried about how this data will be used."
Hooper cited the Department of Homeland Security's "special registration" program for men from Muslim countries in 2002 and 2003, and the New York police department "gathering data to spy on American Muslims in an entire region, what they called the 'demographics unit.' So demographics can be a powerful tool when wielded by any government."
The identity of a person filling out a census form is anonymous, but the Census Bureau came under fire in 2004 after it was revealed to have shared data on where Arab-Americans lived by city and ZIP code with the Department of Homeland Security.
A law passed in the wake of the 2015 San Bernadino terror attack that restricts people born in or holding dual citizenship with certain Middle Eastern nations from the United States' visa waiver program has added to the fears.
Berry said she understood the concerns but noted that "those who have wanted to surveil us ... have done so effectively without a census category."
The Census Bureau's working MENA classification includes people with origins in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates or Yemen, as well as those who identify as Amazigh or Berber, Arab, Assyrian, Bedouin, Chaldean, Copt, Druze, Kurdish and Syriac.
Groups that could be added in future include Turks, Sudanese, Somalis, Afghans, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Cypriots, Djiboutians, Georgians, Mauritanians, South Sudanese and Turkish Cypriots, census officials said.
A Section on 10/22/2016