Reason for Arabs immigration to the USA Term Paper

Reason for Arabs immigration to the USA - Term Paper Example mmigration to the US are quite diverse: they come in search of financial welfare, to escape from regional conflicts and suppression and finally to actualize their intellectual potential. The first and the most popular reason for immigration to the US is to find a job and to earn money. In terms of Arabs immigration it should be mentioned that there were 2 major waves of migration to America (Suleiman, 1999). The first wave took place between 1870 and World War II. Most Arabs came from Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. The economic hardships that people faced in these countries made thousands of Arabs leave their homelands and move to America. There was a major economic crisis in Lebanon due to appearance of the Suez Canal in 1880s. It made Japanese silk more easily available and Lebanese silk industry collapsed. In addition to this, population in Arabic countries increased dramatically, whereas standards of living became worse and worse (Suleiman, 1999). As a result, to avoid unemployment and poverty, people started looking for jobs and better life abroad. As the US was the country of opportunities, most Arabs decided to move there. Another reason why Arabs migrated to America is a need for safety. The second wave of migration of Arabs to the US took place after World War II and it continues till present times. During this wave people came to the States almost from the whole Arabic world, including North Africa. Apart from aforementioned economic reasons, second-wave immigrants had another significant ground to leave their countries and move to America, and that is armed conflicts. Iran-Iraq, Palestine-Israel, Lebanon, Yemen – these were extremely unstable and unsafe regions for living. These regional conflicts and civil wars became a catalyst of the desire to move to America, where there was no war and no suppression. There is one vivid difference between first-wave and second-wave immigrants. Those Arabs, who immigrated to the US before World War II, did