About 10 million middle eastern people live in the United States, making up at least 3% of American citizens. Middle Easterners 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. Middle Eastern Americans make up our neighbors, our peers, our teachers, our friends, doctors, and so much more. Interest in coming to America remains very strong in the Middle East even after September 11. In October 2001, the Department of State received approximately 1.5 million applications from the Middle East (not including Pakistan) for the visa lottery, a program which awards 50,000 green cards each year to randomly selected applicants.
Though people from the Middle East have been treated differently in the United States ever since the attacks of September 11th, they still want to come to this country. Middle Eastern immigrants are one of the most educated immigrant groups in America. In 2000, 49 percent had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 28 percent of people born in the United States. The issue of Middle Eastern immigration and acceptance is important to the larger population of the United States because there are intelligent, hard working people being denied refuge in the United States because of fear and because of only a fraction of Middle Eastern people.
Currently, The Trump administration made several changes early in 2017 affecting inflows of MENA (Migration from the Middle East and North Africa) immigrants. Through a series of executive orders, the administration barred the entry of nationals from several Muslim-majority countries; lowered the fiscal year (FY) 2017 refugee ceiling to 50,000 from the 110,000 level set by President Obama; and temporarily suspended resettlement of refugees. While these changes have faced ongoing legal challenges, refugee admissions have slowed considerably: In calendar year 2017, about 33,400 refugees were resettled in the United States—just one-third of the total resettled in 2016. The number of Syrian refugee arrivals fell from about 15,500 in 2016 to roughly 3,000 in 2017.
You may think that this problem does not affect you, because maybe you don’t know anyone from the Middle East, or don’t feel like you know enough about the actual issue at hand, but this is an incredibly important issue for all humans, in order to recognize humanity and people who may have a different background than you. Addressing this issue at hand is what helps us as humans better understand others, and create a safer, kinder environment. The first MIddle Eastern immigrants initially encountered a variety of prejudicial attitudes beyond those associated with belonging to any group of newcomers to America working to establish themselves.
Obviously, an everyday citizen may feel as if they have no impact on this issue, and that they will never be able to do enough to make it better, but that is not true. Voting, which is obviously an incredibly civic action, is the best way to make a difference in the lives of these Middle Eastern people as well as the Country’s morale in entirety. Voting for an administration that encourages the acceptance and immigration of Middle Eastern people legally is an important step in creating a more accepting, compassionate environment.
The Presidential Administration is obviously the best way for change to be made as they are the people that can make judicial and governmental change. There are ways to petition for governmental change and to get involved in Committees that work towards these similar goals, but voting and making your voice heard are the best options when trying to make big, impactful change for several years to follow.