Issues

Iraq

Iraqis/Chaldeans/Assyrians

Posted on Thursday April 9, 2009

Excerpted from “Immigration to the United States,” by Dr. Louise Cainkar in "Arab American Encyclopedia," ed. Michelle Lee. Detroit: The Gale Group, 2000

Iraqi Chaldeans and Assyrians were among the earliest immigrants from the Arab world to come to the United States. Chaldeans and Assyrians are Aramaic-speaking Christian communities whose origins lie in Northern Iraq, Southeastern Turkey, and Northwestern Iran. Many of them believe they have a unique ethnic identity which is other than Arab. Most of the Iraqi Chaldeans originate from the village of Telkaif in northern, modern-day Iraq. Many of the Assyrians in the US were originally from Turkey but fled persecution there into Iran and Iraq around the time of World War I. In the early 20th Century, Chicago became the main destination for Assyrian immigrants while Chaldeans favored Detroit.

Iraqis—including Arabs, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Kurds—are the fourth largest group of immigrants to come to the US from the Arab world in the post 1965 immigration era. The number of Iraqi immigrants who made the US their home between 1965 and 2000 is 88,614. Forty six percent of them came since 1991. This total includes Assyrians and Chaldeans who are relatives of earlier immigrants, highly educated Iraqi Arab (so-called to distinguish them from Chaldeans and Assyrians) professionals and their families, and post-Gulf War (1990-91) refugees from all of these groups. As in earlier days, Chaldeans tend to settle in Detroit, Assyrians in Chicago, and some members of both of these communities in California. Iraqi Arabs and refugees live in cities across the United States, although large clusters of them can be found in Detroit and Chicago.

More Information: Population Estimates of Americans of Iraqi/Chaldean Ancestry