Since the terrorist attacks nearly one year ago, immigration has been increasingly seen as a national security concern. Many groups that labored in what was generally viewed as an obscure area have become well known to the public. One of these groups, the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that has long advocated stricter immigration controls, recently released a report on immigrants from the Middle East. The countries included in the report are Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, West Sahara, Yemen.
According to the report, an estimated 1.1 million new Mideast immigrants (legal and illegal) will arrive in the United States over the next decade, bringing their total population in the US to 2.5 million. Although significant, this is a slower growth rate than over the last thirty years, when the population went from about 200,000 to 1.5 million. And also this is only 9 percent of the total number of immigrants from all countries (estimated at about 15 million) who will settle in the U.S. over the next decade.
If the US-born children of the Mideast immigrants are included, by 2010 the total number of Middle Eastern immigrants and their children under 18 will reach about 3.4 million, nearly one million of them children.
The report shows that most of the immigration from the Middle East has taken place since the 1980s. Middle Eastern immigration is very diverse and from various countries, with no country accounting for more than 19 percent of all immigrants from the region. Pakistan and Iran have been the leading Middle Eastern countries as far as the number of immigrants to the United States. Iran and Pakistan are also believed to be responsible for the largest undocumented immigrant populations in the U.S. from that region.
About 40 percent of the undocumented aliens in the U.S. were persons who arrived on temporary visas such as tourist or student visas. The other 60 percent snuck into the country illegally. A significant smuggling of illegal aliens from the Middle East across the U.S. land borders has taken place, and many illegal aliens from the Middle East have entered the U.S. by crossing the border illegally. Undocumented immigrants from the Middle East are estimated to total between 100,000 and 200,000, at most only 14 percent of the total Middle Eastern immigrant population.
The report focuses, among other things, on the growing percentage of Middle Eastern immigrants who are Muslim. Historically, most Middle Eastern immigrants have been Christian. Using various methods to attempt to determine religious background through Census Bureau information, the report finds that in 1970, about 15 percent of Middle Eastern immigration were Muslims. In 2000, 73 percent were Muslim. This shift, the report declares, is “creating social forces and trends not expected a generation ago.” The implication here is that an increasing number of Muslim residents in the US is somehow a threat to the US. Obviously, such a conclusion is highly controversial and has already been vigorously denounced by a number of groups.
The report notes that a large number of Middle Easterners are well educated and prosperous. Nearly 50 percent of Middle Eastern immigrants have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to only 28 percent of people born in the US. More than 21 percent have a graduate or professional degree, twice the rate among the US born. Nearly 19 percent of Middle Eastern immigrants own their own businesses, compared to 11 percent among natives of the US. The average annual income for Middle Eastern immigrants is $39,000, slightly higher than the US average of $38,000. Despite these achievements, the report concludes that a significant percentage are poor and use the welfare system. Almost 18 percent live in poverty, compare to about 10 percent of the native population, and about 23 percent use some form of welfare, compared to 15 percent among the US born.
The slow economy, terrible job market, political oppression and instability in the region suggest that there will be more immigration from the Middle East over the next ten years. As the report notes, this will undoubtedly have an impact on the US, both regarding domestic and foreign policy, in particular the ongoing conflict between Israel and the supporters of a Palestinian state. How the US government will deal with these changes remains to be seen.
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