Middle East and North Africa

A Trump administration proposal to remove race and ethnicity questions from the 2030 Census is alarming Arab American advocates, who had expected a new Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category to debut after decades of organizing. The federal government approved MENA as a distinct classification in March 2024, ending a long practice of counting Arab Americans as white, with implementation expected by March 2029. Michigan, home to large Arab American communities in Dearborn, Detroit and Flint, has much at stake.

The proposal would strip race, ethnicity and sexual orientation questions from the decennial questionnaire, with the Census Bureau arguing this protects privacy and boosts participation; detailed demographics would still be gathered via the American Community Survey. Advocates, including the Arab American Heritage Council and former federal policy manager Adam Beddawi, say that survey cannot replace a full population count used for funding and civil rights advocacy. A second provision would exclude certain noncitizens from congressional apportionment counts. Public comments are open through Nov. 2, and the proposal has not been finalized.