Family History and Immigration Modern Middle East
Amogh Prabhu
Digital Media Assignment
Of all the topics on the Middle East, I would have to say two of them interest me the most. These two being Immigration and Family History. They both are very important to those in the Middle East.
Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Countries like the United States promote immigration to some extent as their economy thrives off of it. Recently with all the immigration occurring around the world many United States citizens feel that the country must put a limit on how many people are entering the country. This causes many international tensions among everyone as people believe it is discriminatory and can result to many families being split up. The United States tries to accommodate for everyone however, there is only so many people they can allow at a time before over crowding begins to occur.
Immigrants from the Middle East have come to the United States for over the last 100 years. In the late 1800s, Maronite Christians from Lebanon and Armenians and other Christian minorities from the Ottoman Empire began settling in the United States in significant numbers. Figure 1 shows the number of Middle Eastern immigrants living in the United States from 1970 to 2000.
This figure demonstrates dramatic growths in population in the years from 1970-2010. Less than 200,000 people from the Modern Middle East lived in the United States and by 2000 the number had grown 650 percent to nearly 1.5 million. Over the same period, the total foreign-born population grew at half the rate of the Middle Eastern population. Since 1990 it is clear that the Middle Eastern population has grown by an astounding 80 percent. As a share of the total foreign-born, those from the Middle East now account for about 5 percent, compared to 2 percent of the total immigrant population in 1970.
People from the Modern Middle East, are one of the fastest growing immigrant groups in America. While the size of the overall immigrant population (legal and illegal) has tripled since 1970, the number of immigrants from the Middle East has grown at exponential rates as seen by the graph.
It has been estimated that 150,000, or about 10 percent, of Middle Eastern immigrants are illegal aliens. This is another derogatory term given to people that try to get into this country. Many organizations including the Preliminary Census Bureau (PCB) show similar numbers in their surveys.
The religious composition of Middle Eastern immigrants has changed dramatically over the past thirty years. In 1970, many of the immigrants from the region were Muslim; the rest were mostly Christians from Lebanon or Christian ethnic minorities such as Armenians fleeing predominately Muslim countries. By the year 2000, an estimated 73 percent (1.1 million) of all Middle Eastern immigrants were Muslim.
Citizenship rates are relatively high among Middle Easterners, with 55 percent holding American citizenship, compared to 38 percent of immigrants overall. Given their high citizenship rates, relative affluence, and strong interest in Middle East politics, absent a change in U.S. immigration policy, continued Middle Eastern immigration appears likely to lead to changes in U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict as elected officials respond to this population's growing electoral importance.
While many Middle Easterners are well-educated and prosperous, a significant share are poor and make use of America's welfare system. In 2000, nearly one in five Middle Eastern immigrants and their young children lived in poverty, compared to about one in 10 natives; 23 percent used at least one major welfare program, compared to only 15 percent of natives. With immigration there are both positive and negative effects.
In my interview with my friend Faraz, he tells us about coming into this country how difficult it is. He talks about moving to this country and the struggles his parents had to go through in order to get him where he is. He makes it sound as though he is more than happy that his parents made the effort to bring him and his family into this country. By immigrating here he was able to live a better life then he would have in another country. Immigration has allowed him and his family to live a better quality of life. Family History is another very important aspect of the Modern Middle East. Family history is what makes us who we are and allows us to understand the way in which our minds work. Everything including why your family named you the name you currently have is explained through understanding ones family history.
1. So tell us a little about yourself. What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you?
2. What was your religion growing up?
3. When and where were you born?
4. Tell us about your immigration history? Where did your family come from?
5. What difficulties did your family face coming into this country?
6. What is your views on trump and him becoming president of this country?
7. What is your earliest childhood memory?
8. Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?
9. Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?
10. How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?
11. How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?
12. What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you?
The following set of questioning has allowed me to gain a better understanding of my friend and why he is the way he is. I was able to learn about the struggles him and his family have gone through as well as the way in which his family operates. Overall this project has allowed me to gain a better understanding of how people from the middle east area live their lives.
Sources Used:
http://cis.org/MiddleEasternImmigrantsProfile
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