Number of Arabs in U.S. nearly doubles since 1980
JONATHAN D. SALANT; The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Arab population in the United States has nearly doubled in the past two decades, according to the Census Bureau's first report on the group.
Experts cited liberalized U.S. immigration laws and unrest in the Middle East that led many people to come to America.
The bureau counted nearly 1.2 million Arabs in the United States in 2000, compared with 860,000 in 1990 and 610,000 in 1980. About 60 percent trace their ancestry to three countries: Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
While earlier Arab immigrants came from countries with large Christian populations, newer arrivals come from heavily Muslim countries such as Iraq and Yemen.
"Immigrants from the Arab world come for the same reason all immigrants come - economic opportunity, opportunities to have an education, to develop a professional career," said Helen Samhan, executive director of the Arab American Institute Foundation, a research group.
Samhan said the lifting of U.S. immigration quotas in the 1960s opened the door to people from Arab countries and many took advantage during the 1980s and 1990s, with a large number coming from nations such as Lebanon and Iraq where there were wars.
Almost half of the Arabs in the United States live in five states - California (190,890), New York (120,370), Michigan (115,284), New Jersey (71,770) and Florida (77,461).
"It would be better to come to America than Europe or Canada," said Zak Trad, 33, of Anaheim, Calif., who came from Lebanon three years ago. "It's the largest Arab community not in an Arab country. I didn't think I would be a stranger here."
New York City, the first stop for millions of immigrants for more than a century, had the largest Arab population among U.S. cities, 69,985. The Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Mich., where many Arabs first settled to work in the automobile industry, was next at 29,181.
Sterling Heights, Mich., was the city with the largest percentage of Arab Americans, 3.7 percent, followed by Jersey City, N.J., with 2.8 percent. Dearborn's population is about 30 percent Arab but it was not ranked because the Census Bureau counted only cities with at least 100,000 residents; Dearborn has about 98,000.
The Census Bureau asked those who received the long version of their decennial questionnaire to list their ancestry. The form was sent to about one-sixth of all households.
Arab Americans say their population is larger than the Census Bureau reports, but many are reluctant to fill out government forms.
The census report, which stops at 2000, does not measure the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks. Tighter immigration procedures since then have reduced the flow of Arabs to the United States.
The Arab American Institute Foundation said that just over 15,000 visas were issued to immigrants from Arab countries in 2002, compared with more than 21,000 in 2001.
Top 10 cities
The 10 U.S. cities with the largest Arab population:
City Population
New York 69,985
Dearborn, Mich. 29,181
Los Angeles 25,673
Chicago 14,777
Houston 11,128
Detroit 8,287
San Diego 7,357
Jersey City, N.J. 6,755
Boston 5,845
Jacksonville, Fla. 5,751
The 10 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more people with the highest percentage of Arab residents:
City Percentage
Sterling Heights, Mich. 3.69
Jersey City, N.J. 2.81
Warren, Mich. 2.51
Allentown, Pa. 2.45
Burbank, Calif. 2.39
Glendale, Calif. 2.07
Livonia, Mich. 1.94
Arlington, Va. 1.77
Paterson, N.J. 1.77
Daly City, Calif. 1.69
SOURCE: Census Bureau
(Published 12:01AM, December 4th, 2003)
