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Despite troubled economy Iraqi refugees come to Detroit
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Iraqi refugee Rawaa Bahoo helps her daughter Maryam, 5, with her hair as Marvin 8, left, and Maryana, 4, right, watch television in Farmington Hills, Paul Sancya/AP
Detroit – Tens of thousands have fled Michigan’s troubled economy, yet Iraqi refugees continue to move here.
It is the cultural support from Michigan’s large Middle Eastern community that continues to attract the refugees despite a U.S. effort to place them in cities where they stand a better chance of financial success.
A U.S. government policy is trying to limit refugee resettlements in the Detroit area. However the Detroit area saw a big jump in Iraqi refugees from other U.S. cities, according to a Michigan-based refugee resettlement agency.
For Rawaa Bahoo and Sinan Shamsulddin. both Iraqi refugees never intended to stay where the U.S. government relocated them in July 2008.
Bahoo, 29, said she stayed just a few days in Atlanta before heading to Michigan, where relatives could help her overcome her language barrier.
Kabobs are easier to come by than Big Macs in some areas of the Detroit suburb of Dearborn that more closely resemble a Middle Eastern city than a Midwestern one. Arabic signs are common on storefronts, headscarves are worn by many women and at some fast food joints in the city, the meat is halal which means it is prepared according to Islamic law.
Southeastern Michigan has one of the country's largest Middle Eastern populations at about 300,000. Iraqi's can trace their roots back to the region and Detroit has long been a top destination for Arab immigrants to the U.S.
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