‘Transformative’: US Census to add Middle Eastern, North African category

Advocates have long said census count has left communities invisible, but say change is only a ‘first step’.

Advocates for Arab Americans routinely use one word to describe how diverse communities from the Middle East and North Africa have for decades been categorised in the United States Census: “Invisible”.

But that is set to change when the next federal census is conducted in 2030, with the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announcing Thursday new federal standards on collecting race and ethnicity data. For the first time, Americans who trace their ancestral roots to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will have their own category on the decennial survey.

“It’s transformative,” said Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), who has for years advocated for the update.

“For more than four decades, dating back to the foundation of our organisation, we have highlighted that there is no accurate count of our community because a checkbox did not exist on federal data collection forms, particularly the census,” she said.

“It’s incredibly significant and will have a very real and tangible impact on people’s lives.”