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Date: 
Mon, 10/21/2024 - 12:00am to Wed, 10/23/2024 - 11:45pm
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Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
The Henry Hotel
Venue Address: 
300 Town Center Dr
Dearborn, MI 48126

Arab Americans are not a federally recognized minority which makes it extremely challenging to collect data and do nationwide research on our community. To address this challenge, ACCESS established a one-of-a-kind scientific forum that has since served as a major platform for academic and public health leaders, health & mental health professionals as well as policymakers to share best practices as well as strategic solutions to improve health on a global scale and build research capacity. The unique and valuable experiences gained from this summit have led to many partnerships between our community and health systems, academic centers and national and international organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, United States Health and Human Services as well as the World Health Organization. Through the Health Summit, we aim to create a platform for discussion around issues such as health rights, public health research capacity building, and community engagement as it relates to health and mental health issues among immigrant populations.

The Arab Health Summit is the only convening of its kind that also preserves the research presented in the form of post-conference proceedings journals. Like any other ethnic minority, health in Arab Communities is culturally bound which makes it important to explore the association between culture and health. Research presented at past ACCESS Arab Health Summits has helped build a scientific link between health outcomes and cultural/social factors which continues to inform health programming and care strategies. This convening allows us to be able to access innovative research and evidence-based models which can help reduce the burden of chronic disease in immigrant and minority communities.

October 21 | Pre-Conference Workshops / Opening Ceremony 6:00 PM
October 22-23 | The Henry Hotel 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. both days
October 22 | The Henry Hotel Gala 6:00 PM

 

Abstract Submission Link: bit.ly/AHS10
Abstract Submission Deadline - May 10, 2024
Abstract Notification - Presenters will be notified via email of abstract status beginning June 2024.

 

More information and updates coming soon. 

Date: 
Fri, 10/13/2023 - 11:00am
Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
Byblos Banquet Center
Venue Address: 
7258 Chase Road
Dearborn, MI 48216

Mark your calendars and get ready to make a difference! We are thrilled to invite you to the highly anticipated 15th Annual Domestic Violence Fundraiser, taking place on October 13th, 2023, at the elegant Byblos Banquet. This empowering women-only event aims to bring together our compassionate community to create lasting change in the lives of survivors of domestic violence in Southeast Michigan. This event promptly begins at 11:30 a.m.

By joining us at the Domestic Violence Fundraiser, you will be making a direct impact on the lives of those who have experienced the trauma of domestic violence, turning struggle into strength. Your presence and contributions will help us continue providing essential services such as counseling, psychiatric support, case management, transitional housing, legal assistance, and much more. Together, we can create a stronger, more compassionate community that empowers survivors and fosters healing.

As the date approaches, stay tuned for our upcoming emails with more details and updates. Get ready to be inspired by the stories of resilience and hope as we come together to support the vital services provided by the Survivors of Violence Empowerment Programs.

We can't wait to share this incredible event with you and witness the positive change we can make together. Join us at the Domestic Violence Fundraiser Luncheon and take action for a brighter, safer future.

 

Get Tickets Here

Download Sponsorship Form here

About Survivors of Violence Empowerment Programs:

The Survivors of Violence Empowerment Programs provide vital services and assistance to those who have experienced the trauma of domestic violence. Serving Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties, our programs are designed to help survivors on their journey to mental health recovery and justice. We achieve this through a range of essential services, including counseling, psychiatric support, case management, transitional housing, and legal assistance.

Our primary objectives at SVE are to provide unwavering support to domestic violence survivors across Southeast Michigan. Our goals include responding to the emotional, psychological, or physical needs of domestic violence survivors, empowering and encouraging survivors to improve their health and well-being, assisting survivors in stabilizing their lives after victimization, ensuring survivors understand and can participate in the criminal justice system, and restoring a measure of safety and security for each survivor.

We offer a comprehensive range of services designed to address the unique needs of domestic violence survivors, including individual, family, and group therapy for emotional healing, case management to provide personalized support and assistance, psychiatric services to address mental health concerns, trauma-informed interventions to aid in the recovery process, legal services to guide survivors through legal proceedings, prevention services to raise awareness and promote safety, support groups to foster a sense of community and belonging, advocacy to ensure survivors' rights are protected, employment services to facilitate a fresh start, and transitional housing to provide a safe and supportive environment.

The Survivors of Violence Empowerment Programs are dedicated to helping various survivors of domestic violence, including those who have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse within intimate relationships, child witnesses of domestic violence, survivors of hate crimes related to domestic violence, survivors of domestic violence-related bullying, survivors of domestic violence-related sexual assault, and survivors of other forms of violence within domestic settings.

 

Thank you to our generous sponsors:

Thrive

Bloom

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Date: 
Fri, 09/29/2023 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
Qahwah House
Venue Address: 
22000 Michigan Ave
Dearborn, MI 48124

September is observed as Suicide Awareness Month, and ACCESS will host a community chat with our case workers from the ASAP Coalition at the Qahwah House at 22000 Michigan Ave. on Friday, September 29, 2023, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Connect with our caseworkers, therapists, and behavioral health specialists for conversations about destigmatizing the need for help along with the services they provide while discussing the importance of suicide awareness. Attendees can also listen to a recovery story and gain useful resources to improve their mental health.

Enjoy a nice cup of coffee and learn more about what services we can provide to help you feel your best!

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Date: 
Fri, 08/25/2023 - 12:00pm to 3:00pm
Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
Community Health and Research Center
Venue Address: 
ACCESS
6450 Maple Street
Dearborn, MI 48126
Phone Number: 
(313) 216-2230

It's back to school season, and ACCESS is hosting its 8th edition of its annual Back to School Fair from its Dearborn location at 6450 Maple St. Friday, August 25 from 12 to 3 p.m. The event is for the whole family and includes not only the distribution of school supplies but also face paintings, henna tattoos, games, activities, and raffles of a bike and scooters.

No appointment or pre-registration is needed. Call 313-216-2230 with any questions.

 

About ACCESS

Grounded in a grassroots commitment to serving our community, ACCESS has provided health, education, employment and social services for more than 50 years.  An Arab American nonprofit of excellence, ACCESS empowers communities in Southeast Michigan to improve their economic, social and cultural well-being and extends this mission nationally through advocacy, arts, culture and philanthropy.

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Date: 
Thu, 08/31/2023 - 5:00pm to 6:00pm
Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
ACCESS
Venue Address: 
6451 Schaefer Road
Dearborn, MI 48126

ACCESS will host a candlelight vigil for International Overdose Awareness Day at the ACCESS Schaefer location at 6451 Schaefer Road Thursday, August 31, 2023, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

To honor and cherish the memory of loved ones lost, ACCESS and the ASAP Community Coalition will host a candlelight vigil in observance of International Overdose Awareness Day. The event will include a candle lighting moment of silence, recovery stories from peer coaches and a memoriam board signing. Ribbons and educational resources will be provided for those who attend. Photos of loved ones lost to be cherish and honored are encouraged.

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Please see attached PDF by clicking here

September 9, 2021 

 

In the coming weeks, the U.S. Congress will pass an additional budget reconciliation measure — the second in the last six months. In the last 41 years, the United States Congress has sent 26 budget reconciliation bills to the President’s desk to be signed into law. Only 22 have passed. As those numbers suggest, budget reconciliation is a relatively rare occurrence. In fact, reconciliation is an optional and highly formalistic procedure that allows Congress to bypass the 60-vote requirement to pass legislation, provided that the legislation meets several conditions. It effectively allows Congress to change current law in order to bring revenue, spending, and debt-limit levels into conformity with the policies of the annual budget resolution. Therefore, before passing a budget reconciliation measure, Congress must first adopt a budget resolution – the piece of legislation, presented in the form of a “concurrent resolution,” that the House and Senate agreed to in a matter of weeks. 

 

The budget resolution articulates the topline amounts budgeted to each Congressional Committee, as well as the “reconciliation instructions” by which each Committee will appropriate those aforementioned “toplines.” For instance, the “budget resolution agreement framework” issued from Democratic Party leadership to Senate Democrats instructed the “Agriculture Committee” to apportion “$135 billion” to a set of initiatives including “rural development and rural co-op clean energy investments,” “child nutrition,” and “debt relief,” among other items.  There, the authorized funding will go to various networks of state and local providers who will distribute the funding in the form of various contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements.  

 

In the time between now and formal passage of the budget reconciliation, committees will use these instructions to draft legislation that accomplishes the goals of the majority party — in this case, the Democratic Party. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Senior Senator from New York, has pinpointed September 15th as the target date for passage of the budget reconciliation measure.  

 

Between now and then, the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) is working with its congressional and coalitional partners to articulate and advocate for legislative solutions to the concerns of the communities which the 27 NNAAC member organizations serve across 11 different states. 

 

This is no small feat. Like many underserved populations, the Arab American and broader MENA community is subject to systemic exclusion from the established pathways for community advancement; our unique health needs, small business concerns, residential segregation in ethnic enclaves, and linguistic and cultural barriers to familial or professional development are underrepresented or outright excluded from consideration in Federal programs designed to address those very conditions. At the same time, the Biden administration has made racial equity a priority in its “Build Back Better” agenda. During the Presidential campaign, they articulated a “plan for partnership” with the Arab American community.  

This budget reconciliation affords Congress the opportunity to partner with the Arab American community as part of its effort to make good on their mandate to “support visionary and transformative investments in the health, well-being, and financial security of America’s workers and families.” NNAAC is excited to support such an ambitious promise. The reconciliation instructions provide for intra-Committee debate on aspects of President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. For too long, the MENA community has been left out of such policy discussions.. We look forward to working with our partners in Congress and civil society to ensure our country and its people a stable and prosperous future through advancement of the following key initiatives.  

Recognition of the Unique Health Needs of the Arab American and broader MENA Community 

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The congressional budget resolution calls for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) to allocate $762 billion between a set of initiatives including “health equity.” These include  maternal, behavioral, and racial justice investments. 

The existing data on the Arab American community is limited because the Federal statistical policy directives do not require disaggregated data on individuals from the (Middle East and North Africa) MENA region. Instead, Arab Americans are collapsed into the White reference category. In effect, this marginalizes the unique needs of a population with cultural and linguistic barriers, as well as pre-existing conditions that are inherited from either their descendants or their countries of origin. The lack of a racial/ethnic identifier for the Arab American community has also suppressed groups from trying to articulate the Arab American community as one of the groups for whom racism deleteriously affects health outcomes.  

Nevertheless, ethnicity and race are important determinants of health in Arab American infants.1 Arab American mothers have higher odds than non-Hispanic white mothers of initiating breastfeeding, giving birth to small-for-gestational-age infants, and having gestational diabetes.2Other recent research identifies disparities between Arabs in the United States and non-Arab White Americans in terms of poverty, language access, and insurance coverage.3  

Moreover, the MENA diaspora in America has experienced persistent and systemic stigma and discrimination, particularly due to the racist backlash at home from American geopolitical and military campaigns abroad. For example, the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, the War on Terror, and the Arab Spring, to name a few, accomplished a sort of second-order effect by creating a surplus population of Arab émigrés fleeing from violence or state breakdown. When they arrive from the Middle East and North Africa, they come to America as a racialized and under-resourced population.4 The most recent issue of the ACCESS Health Journal published studies which identified “a growing body of research” indicating that Arab Americans, particularly refugees, “are subject to a host of stressors, including discrimination, lack of social support, and economic hardship that could detrimentally influence their mental health” but which are under-emphasized without “the introduction of an Arab-origin or MENA identifier in nationally representative epidemiologic surveys.”5  

NNAAC is calling for the Senate HELP Committee to pass legislation that addresses maternal health disparities and authorizes funding for the inclusion of MENA within the Research Interest Areas of the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHHD). 

Addressing Social Determinants of Health within Arab American and broader MENA Community 

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The $762 billion allocated to the Senate HELP Committee also includes a line item for “pandemic preparedness.” 

Policies and programs designed to bolster our pandemic preparedness will fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Given the budget reconciliation rules and restrictions, this funding can only amend existing HHS policies and programs. On September 9th, NNAAC sent the HHS Secretary a letter which articulates the specific limitations to our existing pandemic preparedness infrastructure for the MENA community.  

NNAAC is calling for HELP to authorize funding for the following:   

  • A study of underserved or excluded community groups whose incorporation within the HHS’ data strategy would bolster the pandemic preparedness and response effort, pursuant to the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.  

  • Inclusion of the “Middle Eastern and North African” (MENA) community among the list of groups eligible for the REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) grant program within the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  

  • Inclusion of a data collection category for the MENA community within the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), and the Immunization Information Systems within the CDC; and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). 

  • Usage of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act to recognize MENA healthcare workers who, due to differing licensure requirements, are barred from practicing in the United States.  

 

Recognizing and Addressing the Small Business Concerns of the MENA Community 

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The congressional budget resolution calls for the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to allocate $35 billion between a set of initiatives comprising “small business access to credit, investment, and markets.” These initiatives afford a significant opportunity to further develop the proximate factors of small business growth in the Arab American and broader MENA community.  

 

A 2012 study of the Arab American small business and entrepreneurial community in Detroit, MI found that Arab American entrepreneurship contributed a significant amount to the economic stability of Detroit after the Great Recession.6 It also identified success factors that are broadly replicable across the country, such as the necessity of community business assistance through social service organizations that close the gap between Arab American entrepreneurs and the linguistic or cultural barriers to small business ownership. Also crucial were capital investment funds, which facilitate the transfer of low or no interest rate startup or relief capital, as well as organizations that provide business training, opportunity searching, and instrumental support for start-up businesses. 

 

Consideration of different group characteristics is a necessary precondition for the development of opportunity structures through which small businesses flourish in underserved communities. Without disaggregated data, we are unable to estimate the impact of small business downturns to local economies that rely upon small business concerns of the Arab American and broader MENA community. We are also unable to direct sufficient resources to local economies which may rely upon small business ownership from the Arab American and broader MENA community.  

 

With these considerations in mind, NNAAC is calling for the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee to include in the budget reconciliation any legislation which would support the formation of small businesses, through coverage of the associated technical assistance, seed capital, and start-up costs. NNAAC is also calling on the Small Business Administration to include individuals from the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) community in its interpretation of “socially or economically disadvantaged individual.” 

  

Recognizing and Addressing the Environmental Injustices Facing the Arab American and broader MENA Community  

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The congressional budget resolution calls for the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works (EPW) to allocate $67 billion across a set of initiatives including “environmental justice investments in clean water affordability and access, healthy ports and climate equity.”  

 

This budget resolution instructive is part of the Biden administration’s holistic approach to environmental justice. On their first week in office, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order to authorize the Justice40 Initiative. The Justice40 Initiative effectively commits the Federal government to ensure that 40 percent of the benefits to Federal investments on climate and clean energy go to “disadvantaged communities.” The MENA community experiences a combination of factors which the Biden administration identified as part of their definition of “disadvantaged communities,” including “racial and ethnic residential segregation,” “linguistic isolation,” “distressed neighborhoods,” “disproportionate environmental stressor burden and high cumulative impacts,” “limited water and sanitation access and affordability,” “access to healthcare,” and “jobs lost through the energy transition.”  

 

In 2019, Sara E. Grineski, Timoty W. Collins and Ricardo Rubio, a group of sociologists and demographers, used ACS data to identify Arab ethnic enclaves in U.S. Census tracts. Grineski and others found “significant environmental injustices for Arab American enclaves,” with clear connections to the systemic disadvantage of Arab Americans “as a racialized minority group without minority status.”7 Namely, that MENA individuals across nearly all ethnic enclaves experience disproportionately elevated cancer risks driven by the fact that MENA enclaves in the US have higher hazardous air pollutant scores than the national average.8 Poor housing quality and barriers to quality health care in MENA- dense areas, including Detroit, further the environmental stressor burden felt by the community.9 Communities of color in the US, including Arab Americans and the broader MENA community, are more likely to live in proximity to industrial and chemical facilities, be exposed to lead and other pollutants, and experience extreme weather events that exacerbate environmental degradation.10 A 2011 study of lead poisoning among Arab American and African American children in the Detroit metropolitan area revealed that “immigrant children are at heightened risk of being poisoned by lead.”11 As a result, the community faces poorer health outcomes than non- Hispanic, non-Arab Whites, including high rates of asthma, cardiovascular issues, lung disease, and cancer. 

 

With these considerations in mind, NNAAC is calling for the Senate EPW Committee to include in the budget reconciliation measure any legislation which would require Federal agencies to recognize and address the environmental determinants of adverse health outcomes and life chances, including through the solicitation of public participation in Executive agencies’ data collection processes and consideration of the cumulative impacts of exposure to hazardous pollutants. NNAAC is also calling for the inclusion of legislation that would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to increase funding for lead reduction projects. 

 

Articulating New Modes of Human and National Security 

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The congressional budget resolution calls for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to allocate $107 billion between a set of initiatives including development of a “Community Violence Intervention Initiative.” NNAAC represents communities who have historically experienced adverse relations with local law enforcement authorities. However, we have started to turn a new leaf in our communities. Following up on last summer, we hope to articulate a new dynamic between community groups and law enforcement. As such, NNAAC advocates for passage of legislation that authorizes funding for the Department of Justice to administer a program by which nonprofit community-based organizations can develop evidence- and community-based strategies to interrupt cycles of violence through expansions of economic opportunity or trauma-responsive care. Such legislation would offer a pathway to devising and demonstrating the efficacy of alternatives to extant law enforcement approaches.  

 

Establishing a Pathway to Citizenship for Qualified Immigrants and TPS Holders 

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The congressional budget resolution calls for the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to allocate $107 billion between a set of initiatives including “lawful permanent status for qualified immigrants,” which would stabilize the living conditions for millions of people across this country who establish themselves and their families, oftentimes after fleeing deleterious conditions in their countries of origin and give back to their local communities. NNAAC recommends that Congress establish a pathway to citizenship for TPS holders, Dreamers, farmworkers and essential workers in the reconciliation bill. 

As the Biden administration rounds out its First 100 Days, ACCESS is taking stock of the Biden campaign’s promises to the Arab American community, which they detailed in their “Plan for Partnership.” The following will provide a status update of the nascent Biden administration in these areas, organized with respect to ACCESS’ policy priorities for this year. Each section will provide points on which ACCESS encourages deeper engagement on behalf of the Arab American and broader MENA community.

 

Economic Opportunity and Community Development

The Biden administration promised to “support the creation of a new Middle East North Africa (MENA) category…so that Arab Americans can be more fairly counted, and their needs studied and considered alongside other minorities.” On their first day, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order to “[advance] racial equity and support for underserved communities through the Federal government,” but excluded the Arab American and MENA community from their Domestic Policy Council’s “efforts to embed equity principles, policies, and approaches across the Federal Government.” Pursuant to section 8 of the Executive Order, which authorizes agencies to “consult with members of communities that have been historically underrepresented in the Federal Government and underserved by, or subject to discrimination in, Federal policies and programs,” ACCESS encourages the Executive Branch to explicitly include the Arab American and broader MENA community in their institutional approaches to racial equity, through the Office of Minority Health, the Census Bureau, and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) program, among other programs.

 

The Biden administration promised to “spur public-private investment through a small business opportunity plan that will fund successful state and local investment initiatives and make permanent the highly effective New Markets Tax Credit.” The American Rescue Plan allocated $1.5 billion to State programs authorized through the State Small Business Credit Initiative Act, which directs funds toward “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals,” a legal classification from which Arab Americans are definitionally and effectively excluded from. Additionally, the Treasury Department under President Biden invested $9 billion through a new Emergency Capital Investment Program and $3 billion for the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which also exclude Arab Americans from the list of racial and ethnic minority groups to whom they target resources. The Biden administration can jointly a) facilitate inclusion of a MENA category within the list of racial and ethnic minority groups at the agency level and b) support legislation that would amend section 308 of the Financial Institutions, Reform, and Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) to include MENA among the list of racial and ethnic minority groups.

 

Rejecting Hate, Protecting Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

The Biden campaign promised to “directly address the rise in hateful attacks, fix long-standing issues with how the government documents hate crimes, and enact legislation prohibiting someone convicted of a hate crime from purchasing or possessing a firearm.” The Biden administration has thrown their support behind the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, on which the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act was included as an amendment. The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act passed resoundingly in the Senate and will likely pass the House upon consideration. Upon Senate passage, ACCESS issued a press release calling for Congress to follow up on this bill with additional steps to “directly address antagonisms between people in their local contexts” and to engage the “other factors which contribute to social stratification and persistent bias in local contexts,” including income inequality and rent-intensifying real estate development.

 

The Biden campaign promised to “update section 4 of the Voting Rights Act,” “develop a new process for pre-clearing election changes,” and “ensure that the Justice Department challenges state laws suppressing the right to vote. To that point, the Justice Department under President Biden has already reviewed state laws affecting the right to vote.

The Biden campaign promised to “root out systemic racism across our laws and institutions, including in policing.” To that end, ACCESS encourages the Biden campaign to reconsider the $20 million in discretionary spending they requested for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) program. Just as the Biden administration has promised to “condition federal funding on [police] departments undertaking reforms,” ACCESS encourages the Biden administration to condition TVTP funding on the DHS undertaking reforms of its prevention approach, which is ineffective and relies upon “overbroad and unproven criteria to label people dangerous and worthy of suspicion.”

 

The Biden campaign promised to “instruct the Department of Homeland Security to undertake a review of ‘watchlist’ and ‘no-fly list’ processes to ensure that they do not have an adverse impact on individuals or groups based on national origin, race, religion or ethnicity, and improve the process to remove names, when justified, from these lists.” To that end, ACCESS encourages the Biden administration to support, with action, a) the efforts of community-based organizations to work with DHS to produce and promulgate a clear process for removing names from the “watchlist” and no-fly list” and b) legislation that would impose nonpartisan oversight of the process by which individuals are placed on both the ‘watchlist’ and the ‘no-fly list.’

 

Building a Care-Based Social Infrastructure

The Biden campaign promised to “ensure everyone has access to free COVID-19 testing, treatment, and a safe and effective vaccine, when one is available.” They have delivered on the promise of vaccine access, and must now ensure that Arab American community-based organizations and social service agencies have the resources they need to develop vaccine education campaigns for their clients, many of whom express hesitancy in taking the vaccine. To best assess the inclusiveness of their COVID-19 treatment and testing efforts, the Biden administration should support establishment of a MENA category within their Federal demographic data collection and reporting standards.

 

Biden campaign promised to “ensure and expand protections for students against bullying, violence, and discrimination in schools”, “work with states to offer pre-K for all three- and four-year-olds,” “make public colleges and universities tuition-free for all students whose family incomes are below $125,000,” “invest in, and allow, Pell Grants to be used for dual-enrollment programs,” and “build on the Affordable Care Act” through “more choice” and “lowering the [Medicare] eligibility age to 60,” among other things. American Rescue Plan (ARP) provided emergency relief to several programs germane to ACCESS’ vision of a care-based social infrastructure, but the real test of lasting change will be the American Families Plan, a $1.8 trillion proposal which extends key aspects of the ARP and follows through on several of the aforementioned promises.

 

Citizenship and Integration for Immigrants

President Biden promised to “rescind the un-American Muslim travel and refugee bans” and to “cease the immoral family separation policy." On his first day in office, President Biden issued a proclamation on ending discriminatory bans on entry to the United States. Earlier this month, the Democrat-controlled House passed the NO BAN Act, which would require future Presidents to provide a basis of evidence for future immigration bans and also include religious discrimination among the nondiscrimination conditions of Federal immigration policy. These are significant steps taken to oppose and prevent repeat instances of racist immigration policy.

 

President Biden promised to work toward “setting the annual global refugee admissions cap” at 125,000. However, his team cautioned that they would “need to “raise it over time commensurate with our responsibility, our values, and the unprecedented global need.” Within a few weeks, President Biden had signed a new Executive Order “on rebuilding and enhancing programs to resettle refugees.” By initially setting the cap at 15,000, the all-time low set by the Trump administration, the Biden administration made an early determination on his view of our national responsibility to immigrants, values as a diverse nation, as well as the unprecedented need of the more than the need conveyed a determination that the cap at 62,500. They have since backtracked, and intend to set a new cap. ACCESS encourages the Biden administration to set the maximum cap for refugee admissions at the 125,000 figure and increase funding to reception, resettlement, and integration programs.

 

The Biden campaign promised to “put real political capital into passing legislative immigration reform that provides a roadmap to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants enriching our communities.” On his first day in office, President Biden sent to Congress the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, a bill that would establish a pathway to citizenship for lawful prospective immigrants, Dreamers, and holders of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED). In his Joint Address to Congress, President Biden called upon the legislative branch to pass immigration reform legislation, whether his U.S. Citizenship Act or H.R.6, the American Dream and Promise Act, or H.R.1603, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

 

The Biden campaign promised to “reverse Trump’s public charge rule”, which they promptly did through the Judiciary branch. However, more is to be done to avoid a repeat of the “chilling effect,” which refers to the effect of Trump’s immigration policy on many immigrant families’ decision to not access the public benefits to which they are entitled. During the pandemic, the “chilling effect” persisted in many districts, which further exacerbated the health and economic hardships associated with the pandemic and lockdown restrictions. ACCESS encourages the DHS to: produce renewed field guidance on the public charge rule; ensure the field guidance expresses the sense of the Biden administration that America is a “land of opportunity that is open and welcoming to all, not just the wealthy”; develop culturally and linguistically appropriate educational materials for community-based organizations (CBOs); and appropriate the necessary funds for CBOs to promulgate these materials to immigrant beneficiaries.

 

The Biden campaign promised to ensure “that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel abide by professional standards and are held accountable for inhumane treatment of individuals.” To that point, the DHS under President Biden has instructed ICE and CBP to stop using terminology such as “alien” or “illegal alien.” They have also placed upon ICE and CBP “new limits on civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses.” ACCESS encourages the DHS to produce and promulgate field guidance on this new rule change, which still relies upon ambiguous language, such as the condition that law enforcement can be taken against an immigrant whose case is a “national security matter.” In addition, ACCESS encourages follow-up from the administration on the “rampant abuse and unchecked culture of impunity within ICE and CBP” detailed in the National Immigration Project report: “Complaints Ignored, Abuses Excused: Why the Department of Homeland Security’s Internal Accountability Mechanisms Must Be Reformed.”

 

 

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ABOUT ACCESS

Grounded in a grassroots commitment to empowerment, ACCESS is the largest Arab American community nonprofit in the U.S., with a 50-year history of nonprofit of excellence. Guided by our vision of a just and equitable society for all, with the full participation of Arab Americans, we empower communities in Southeast Michigan to improve their economic, social and cultural well-being through an extensive network of health, education, employment and social services programming. Our mission extends nationally through our highly esteemed institutions—The National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), the Arab American National Museum (AANM) and the Center for Arab American Philanthropy (CAAP)—which are focused on making an impact through advocacy, the arts and philanthropy.

 

ABOUT NNAAC

The National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), an institution of ACCESS, is a growing network of independent Arab American community-based organizations around the country. Established in 2004, NNAAC currently has 27 members in 12 states. The strength of these member organizations is built around the grassroots constituencies they serve through a range of programs, outreach and advocacy. NNAAC’s primary mission is to build the capacity of Arab American nonprofit organizations that focus on the needs and issues impacting their local community while collectively addressing those issues nationally. To support its mission, NNAAC has three main programs: Capacity Building, Advocacy and Civic Engagement (ACE), and Youth and Community Service.

ABOUT TAKE ON HATE

Take on Hate, a national campaign of ACCESS, addresses bigotry and discrimination, particularly toward Arab and Muslim Americans, and stands against hate toward all people. Through grassroots organizing, we challenge this country’s growing prejudice and persistent misconception of Arab and Muslim Americans, including refugees. For more information, visit www.takeonhate.org.

For a PDF version of this policy report, click here.

 

 

Date: 
Fri, 02/26/2021 - 11:00am to 12:15pm
Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
Virtual
Venue Address: 
Dearborn, MI

With the COVID-19 vaccines comes hope, but this is no time to let our public health practice guard down. Dr. Ali S. Khan and Dr. Rana Hajjeh will join us to discuss the COVID-19 vaccines and our path forward. Our presenters will discuss COVID-19 and vaccine distribution from both a U.S. and MENA region perspective.
 

Get to know our speakers:

Dr. Ali S. Khan, Dean, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Khan's career has focused on health security, global health and emerging infectious diseases. He is a former Assistant Surgeon General with the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Khan also served for 23 years as a senior director at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during which time he helped develop the CDC's national health security program. 

Dr. Rana Hajjeh, Director of Programme Management, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office
Dr. Hajjeh is a senior public health leader with 25 years experience in global health, health policy and diplomacy and health management. In her current position, Dr. Hajjeh directs and leads all technical public health programs at the regional level, including universal health coverage and systems, communicable and non-communicable diseases and information and science.
 

Meet our moderator:

Dr. Adnan Hammad, PhD, President & CEO, Global Health Research, Management & Solutions

Date: 
Mon, 11/23/2020 - 11:00am to Tue, 11/24/2020 - 11:45am
Event Type: 
Venue Name: 
Online via Facebook Live
Venue Address: 
Dearborn, MI
11:00 AM -  12:00 PM on Monday, November 23 on the ACCESS Facebook Page

Join us for a conversation about the connection between chronic diseases and COVID-19.

Moderator: Dr. Adnan Hammad, President and CEO, Global Health Research, Management & Solutions

Speakers:
Dr. May Darwish-Yassine: Chief Program Officer, Michigan Public Health Institute

Dr. Basim Dubaybo: Vice Dean, School of Medicine, Wayne State University

Dr. Hassan Fehmi: Section Chief, Nephrology and Hypertension, Henry Ford Hospital & Medical Director, Western Regional Home Dialysis

This conversation is the third in a series of webinars hosted by the ACCESS Community Health and Research Center.

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In April 2020, due to the suspension of field operations caused by COVID-19, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Trump Administration asked Congress to extend census operations until October 31 to allow for a complete and accurate count of peoples in the United States. On Friday, July 31, reports emerged that the Census Bureau would complete field data collection on September 30, in response to the Trump administration abandoning its previous request to have Congress extend census deadlines.

The Michigan Nonprofits Count Campaign implores Congress to grant an extension until October 31, 2020, and uphold its constitutional duty to count “the whole number of persons in each state” to ensure a fair and accurate census. Rushing the timeline goes against the recommendations of experts within the Census Bureau and trained demographers. Michigan’s state demographer, Dr. Eric A. Guthrie stated:

“This action at the Census Bureau is the latest in a several years-long attack on what has been the gold standard operation in American statistical data collection. Ending the non-response follow-up (NRFU) operation early and without a well-conceived plan will undercount historically marginalized communities, short-change states and communities, and distort our perception of reality. Estimates vary, but federal funding tied to the census counts amounts to in excess of $1,800 per resident in Michigan. Additionally, this action will cause white residents to be over counted and communities of color to be undercounted, thereby thwarting future state efforts to craft policy that is meant to be representative of our state.”

Michigan’s 2020 self-response rates in historically undercounted communities already lag because of COVID-19’s impact. Rushing the deadline could undermine the health and safety of census workers and the American public. We cannot afford, amid a global pandemic, to short-change communities most affected by an undercount, including rural communities, people of color, senior citizens, immigrant communities, and children.

The pandemic has cast a glaring light on the impact of systemic and institutional divestment in historically undercounted communities. Rushing the census would put already vulnerable populations in danger of losing funding for education, medical care, and food programs for the next ten years, results that would be devastating for all of Michigan.

We encourage our nonprofit partners, who have already been extraordinarily committed to mobilizing communities, to double their efforts. We see over and over again, unconstitutional tactics being used to undermine a fair and accurate count. The consequences of an undercount are terrible for Michigan and the country. We can’t afford an incomplete count.

Donna Murray-Brown, Co-Chair
President and CEO
Michigan Nonprofit Association

Hassan Jaber, Co-Chair
Chief Executive Officer
ACCESS