Chaldean Americans

History and Immigration

The first significant wave of Chaldean immigration into the United States was around 1910. Detroit was the target location for Chaldeans and Lebanese Christians as well (as well as other immigrant groups) in large part because of the work generated by the automobile industry. The impetus for this migration was to escape religious persecution by the Muslim majority. In a classic example of chain migration, more than 95 percent of Chaldean Americans in Detroit can trace their paths back to Telkaif, a poor, agrarian Christian village.

Immigration all but ceased during World War II as travel became more challenging, but recommenced at the close of the war; student visas increased immigration even more. Many Chaldean Americans came to the United States with student visas and married locally, which allowed them to remain. There was a steady immigration stream until the Gulf War started; this steady influx of Chaldeans has meant that assimilation has been slow.

Chaldean Americans born and raised in the United States are comfortable speaking English, attending mainstream schools, and generally pursuing an American lifestyle. Chaldeans who immigrated more recently are more likely than older-generation Chaldean Americans to have grown up in modern cities like Baghdad. Many Chaldean Americans have attended college. As the two groups of Chaldean Americans mix, they speak Arabic; Chaldean is not often spoken anymore.

To outsider Americans, Chaldean Americans often appear to be Arab Americans; however, this tends to insult Chaldean Americans. Muslim Arabs obviously have many religious differences. Chaldean Americans also tend to feel that their culture is less patriarchal and that women have more opportunities in their communities. One other reason for the tendency of Chaldean Americans to assert their own unique ethnic identity is simply that they can; in Detroit there is a substantial Chaldean American community so it is relatively easy for members of it to find others that share most aspects of life with them.

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