Ryan Costello, Policy Director with the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement on reports that Iran had sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia amid its ongoing war in Ukraine:
In March 2024, the U.S. Census officially adopted a Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Category for inclusion in the 2030 Census, with an Iranian subcategory as well. While securing this category after decades of advocacy and research is indeed a significant win, ensuring full and proper implementation of the category is the most urgent and essential next step in this process. Thankfully, the American Community Survey (ACS), the lead data collection mechanism of the Census Bureau, put forth its proposed implementation plan for all of the changes adopted for the upcoming 2030 Census, including the MENA category. The plan itself includes a deadline for implementation in 2027, along with some potential experimental surveying techniques to produce a limited set of data products earlier than 2027 in order to prepare the most detailed and accurate data in the years leading up to the 2030 Census. This provides an opportunity to prepare for the formal data collection process by experimenting how communities, including MENA, respond to the annual American Community Survey and, ultimately, the 2030 Census. NIAC submitted a public comment detailing the history of our work on this issue as well as direct feedback on the proposed implementation plan. The
In July 2024, the Department of Treasury released a proposed rule to expand the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to include real estate transactions near military installations. As the appropriate federal authority for investigating any potential national security implications of real estate transactions, this update offers a much more promising alternative to alleviating national security concerns without directly undermining individual civil rights, as has been exemplified in the continued spread and codification of modern day “alien land laws.” These xenophobic laws, which have trended across the country since 2023, seek to restrict the right to owning real estate property for Iranians and other targeted communities solely on the basis of national origin. As such, expanding CFIUS authority presents the first of many steps to fully addressing and ultimately halting this new wave of blatant discrimination against our community by updating existing legal mechanisms as opposed to creating new, xenophobic ones. NIAC submitted a public comment on the proposed rule outlining the history of our work on this issue as well as how the Department of Treasury can build on this first, essential step. The comment is included below:
In July 2024, the Department of Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network put forth a proposed rule to strengthen and modernize the way that financial institutions conduct their Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Finance of Terrorism (CFT) Programs. To date, these are the very programs which have contributed to the ongoing pattern of de-risking, or banking discrimination, against the Iranian and Iranian-American community. These regulations, along with sweeping U.S. sanctions against Iran and legislation like the Patriot Act, have led to no-notice bank account freezes and even closures, causing immense disruption to the lives of Iranians and Iranian Americans solely on the basis of their national heritage. For years, NIAC has sought to elevate this issue and work with both banks as well as the Department of Treasury to better safeguard minority communities from discriminatory banking practices. As such, this proposed rule signifies a progressive step in the right direction toward that end, though much remains to be accomplished to effectively eradicate de-risking overall. In response to the proposed rule, NIAC submitted a public comment detailing the history of our work on this issue as well as how the Department of Treasury can expand upon its proposed rule
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