Paper
The Iranian Experience in America : Achievements and Challenges
Mehdi Bozorgmehr
City University of New York
The United States is by far the favored destination
of the global Iranian diaspora. The combination of former college
students and elite exiles makes Iranians one of the most educated
immigrant groups in the United States . According to the 2000 U.S.
Census, over half (54.9%) of Iranian immigrants held a college
or higher degree, a rate twice as high as All Foreign-Born (26%).
Reflecting their high educational level, Iranians also rank very
high in percentage in professional specialty occupations (e.g.,
physicians, engineers, accountants and supervisors) in the United
States . With a self-employment rate of 21.8 percent in 2000, Iranians
are also one of the most entrepreneurial groups in the United States
. The combination of salaried and self-employed professionals,
as well as managerial occupations, accounts for the generally successful
economic adaptation of Iranian immigrants. This success, however,
is qualified by the downward mobility, at least initially, of exiles,
and the discrimination Iranians as a whole face in the labor market.
There are very few social problems associated with Iranian immigrants,
yet discrimination and prejudice afflict them more so than other
similarly high-status immigrant groups. This is mostly provoked
by the actions of the Iranian regime rather than by Iranian immigrants
themselves. Anti-American slogans started during the Iranian revolution,
and culminated in the "Iran Hostage Crisis" in
1979-81 when 52 Americans were taken hostage for 444 days in
Iran . Ironically, the hostage crisis coincided with the massive
influx of Iranian exiles into the United States . Although fewer
than 1,000 Iranians were actually deported, government policy
targeted and scapegoated Iranian immigrants, some of whom had
been persecuted by the very regime that perpetrated the hostage
crisis. Every time conflict has broken out between Iran and the
U.S. since then, Iranian immigrants in the U.S. have consequently
experienced tensions with the host society. Not surprisingly,
many Iranians still perceive that there is prejudice against
them in the U.S. , especially after September 11, 2001.
fter 9/11,
Iranians were singled out in the National Security Entry-Exit Registration
System (NSEERS) with its provision of special registration. When
President Bush designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as part
of the "Axis of Evil," individuals
bearing Iranian passports were denied visa issuance and were
subjected to special registration, even though Iran and Iranians
had nothing to do with 9/11. Special registration resulted in
the arrest of several hundred Iranians in Los Angeles who were
deemed in violation of their visas. In response, Iranians staged
one of the largest demonstrations they ever had outside the Federal
Building in Westwood area of Los Angeles in 2002. Iranian immigrants
have come to realize that the strategy of passing as non-Iranians
or disassociating themselves from the Iranian regime does not
protect them against hostility in the U.S. Three new advocacy
organizations have emerged after 9/11 to defend the civil liberties
of Iranian Americans. These organizations were sorely needed
in the Iranian community, which still has a very limited organizational
infrastructure.
