| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 94,000 (2022)[1] 0.03% of the US population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Phoenix, Arizona ·San Diego, California ·Greater Los Angeles,California ·Chicago, Illinois ·Metro Detroit,Michigan ·Turlock, California | |
| Languages | |
| Assyrian,English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (majority:Syriac Christianity; minority:Protestantism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Assyrian Canadian,Iraqi American,Iranian American,Syrian American,Middle Eastern American,Armenian American |
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Assyrian Americans (Syriac:ܣܘܼܖ̈ܵܝܹܐ ܐܲܡܪ̈ܝܼܟܵܝܹܐ) are individuals ofethnicAssyrian ancestry born or residing within theUnited States. Assyrians are an ethnic group native toMesopotamia inWest Asia whodescend from theirancient counterparts, directly originating from the ancient indigenous Mesopotamians ofAkkad andSumer who first developed the independentcivilization in northern Mesopotamia that would becomeAssyria in2600 BC. Modern Assyrians often culturally self-identify asSyriacs,Chaldeans, orArameans for religious and tribal identification. The first significant wave of Assyrian immigration to the United States was due to theSayfo genocide in the Assyrian homeland in 1914–1924.
The largest Assyrian diaspora in the United States is located inMetro Detroit, with a figure of 150,000.[2] High concentrations are also located inPhoenix,San Jose,Modesto,San Diego,Los Angeles,Turlock, andChicago among others.[3][4][5]
In the2020 U.S. census a total of 119,402 individuals identified as Assyrian, Chaldean or Syriac in the United States with full or partial ancestry.[6]
As of 2022[update]U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there are 94,532 people in the United States declaring Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac ancestry (with amargin of error ±7,255).[7]
Assyrian immigration to the United States began in the late19th century, with a notable presence developing inNew England.Syriac Orthodox Assyrians fromHarput were among the early settlers, establishing a community inWorcester,Massachusetts. Many later relocated to theBoston area. This community maintained close ties with other Syriac Orthodox Assyrians, particularly those fromMardin, who settled inCentral Falls,Rhode Island, and fromDiyarbakır, who established communities inNew Jersey. The community in New Jersey founded several civic organizations outside the church, including the Assyrian Orphanage and School Association of America.[8]
The early Syriac Orthodox communities also developed relationships with other early Assyrian groups, such as Protestants and members of theChurch of the East, who then primarily emigrated fromUrmia (in northwestern Iran) and settled inNew Britain,Connecticut.[9]
Following the turn of the century, Assyrian immigration to America mostly came to a halt due to theImmigration Act of 1924, which effectively cut off any legal immigration to the United States for Assyrians and other non-Western European groups. The second large wave of immigration occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, mainly from northernIraq due to conflicts and persecution by theBa'athist government of Iraq. Others arrived fromIran following theIranian Revolution. Many Assyrians arrived during this period and took advantage of the ongoingWhite flight inDetroit.
As a result of the situation, Assyrians gained amonopoly over grocery stores and other small businesses, and in many cases used their finances and newfound wealth to benefit the Assyrian community there and take in Assyrian refugees from Iraq. More Assyrians arrived throughout the 1980s and 1990s for similar reasons, with newer residents moving out of Detroit into suburbs such asRoyal Oak andSterling Heights due to thecrack epidemic in Detroit, while others began to move toSan Diego, establishing a new Assyrian community there.
In 2005, the first Assyrian school in the United States, the Assyrian American Christian School, opened inTarzana,Los Angeles.
Assyrian immigration to cities inMichigan began in the early 20th century. The cities in the state include, but are not limited to,Detroit,Southfield,Sterling Heights,Oak Park,Troy,West Bloomfield,Walled Lake,Rochester Hills,Farmington Hills,Ferndale,Warren,Bloomfield Hills, andAnn Arbor. More and more Assyrians, as they establish themselves financially, quickly move out of Detroit and into the other locations, includingSan Diego and cities inArizona.
Before the 1970s, Assyrians came to the United States in search of greater economic opportunities. After the 1970s, many Assyrians fled for political freedom, especially after the rise ofSaddam Hussein and after theGulf War. Some were drawn by the economic opportunities they had seen successfully affect their family members who had already immigrated.
Less stringent immigration laws during the 1960s and 1970s facilitated increasing numbers, with the 1970s seeing the highest number of Assyrians coming to the United States. In 1962, the number of Assyrian owned grocery stores was 120, but grew to 278 in 1972. The main cause of this was the1967 Detroit riots, after whichJewish grocery store owners left the area and left the opportunity open for Assyrians to take over. Often these Jews sold their old stores to Assyrians.[10]
Iraqi presidentSaddam Hussein donated hundreds of thousands of dollars toChaldean Catholic Churches in Detroit and received a key to the city in the 1980s on behalf of MayorColeman Young, when theBa’ath regime was an ally of theUnited States government.[11]
Most newChaldean Catholic Assyrian immigrants and low-income senior citizens tend to reside in Detroit, on the 7 Mile Road betweenWoodward Avenue and John R Street. This area was officially namedChaldean Town in 1999.[12] There are eight Chaldean Catholic Churches inMetro Detroit, located in West Bloomfield, Troy (two), Oak Park, Southfield, Warren, Sterling Heights, and Detroit.
AfterWorld War II, several Assyrian men who had been educated in Iraq by American Jesuits traveled to the United States. They were to teachArabic to U.S. officers at the Army Language School who were going to be stationed in the Middle East. The men started the San Diego-area Chaldean Catholic community. Yasmeen S. Hanoosh, author ofThe Politics of Minority Chaldeans Between Iraq and America, wrote that theChaldean Catholic Church in San Diego "continued to grow in relative isolation from the family-chain-migration based communities in and around Michigan."[13]
In the2020 U.S. census a total of 119,402 individuals identified as Assyrian, Chaldean or Syriac in the United States with full or partial ancestry.[6]
According to the2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, 94,532 people in the United States are of Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac ancestry (with amargin of error ±7,255).[7] The Census Bureau lists all three groups as one option on forms.[14] Michigan, California, and Illinois account for 80% of the Assyrian population living in the US.[15]
In 2020 the Arizona State Legislature approved a resolution to recognizeSayfo, including a section which stated that 600,000 Assyrians live in theUnited States.[16][17]
There were 34,484 Assyrians living in Michigan according to the2000 United States census.[18] The 2022 estimates put this number at 41,020, with the overwhelming majority of the population–95%–residing in the Metro Detroit area counties ofMacomb County (23,707),Oakland County (14,535), andWayne County (665).
There were 22,671 Assyrians living inCalifornia according to the 2000 United States census. The 2022 estimates put this number at 24,748. The state's largest Assyrian American population lives inSan Diego County (9,165), followed byLos Angeles County (3,642),Santa Clara County (2,919), andOrange County (1,816). The population inSouthern California accounts for more than 60% of the state's total Assyrian population estimate.
A little over 16% of the state's population of Assyrians (4,097) reside in theCentral Valley andSan Francisco Bay Area, places known for severalEastern Assyrian,Chaldean Catholic, andSyriac Orthodox churches.[19] These include:
There were 15,685 Assyrians living inIllinois according to the 2000 United States census.[20] As of the 2022[update] estimate, that number has held steady at 15,694, with over 89% of that population residing inCook County (14,035). As of the 2023American Community Survey five-year estimates, the largest populations reside inChicago (3,099)[21] and the adjacent northern suburbs ofNiles (1,113)[22] andSkokie (2,768).[23]
DuPage County (241) andLake County (213) have the second- and third-highest populations.
Thefederal government of the United States took the wordSyrian to meanArabs from theSyrian Arab Republic and not as one of the terms to identify the ethnically distinct Assyrians, although the termsSyrian andSyriac are strongly accepted by mainstream majority academic opinion to be etymologically, historically, geographically, and ethnically derivative of the earlier termAssyrian,[24][25] and historically meant Assyrian (seename of Syria) and not Arab orAramean. In addition, the Syrian Arab Republic is home to many ethnicities, including Arabs, Assyrians,Armenians,Kurds, andTurkmens, and is thus not an exclusivelyArab nation.
TheSyriac Orthodox Church was formerly known as theSyrian Orthodox Church until aHoly Synod in 2000 voted to change it to Syriac, thus distinguishing it from the Arabs.Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim wrote a letter to the Syriacs in 2000 urging them to register in the census asSyriac with aC, not Syrian with anN, to distinguish the group. He also urged them not to register as the country of origin.[26] The Church was previously known as theAssyrian Orthodox Church in America and Israel-Palestine, which can be seen in the name of the Syriac Orthodox Church ofParamus,New Jersey.[27]
The termChaldean refers to ethnic Assyrians who are (traditionally)Eastern Catholic, having separated from the Assyrian Church inUpper Mesopotamia between the 17th and 19th centuries (seeSchism of 1552). Chaldean is thus a religious term, not an ethnic term. The majority of Chaldean Catholics come from Iraq'sNineveh Plains region, which is located inUpper Mesopotamia (northern Iraq). The Chaldeans of antiquity lived in southeast Mesopotamia from the 9th century BC and disappeared from history in the 6th century BC.
On theUS census, there is a section forAssyrian/Chaldean/Syriac, which is listed separately fromSyrian, Syrian being a subcategory forArab.[28]
Rep. Eshoo was born in New Britain, Connecticut, of Assyrian and Armenian heritage. She is the proud mother of two children, Karen and Paul.
His Assyrian grandfather was a tailor in Paterson and his boyhood pals on Wayne's Surrey Drive remember him more as an avid lacrosse player than a student of politics. But Rumana picked up the public-service bug from his godfather, Robert Roe, who was mayor of Wayne before serving as a 23-year Democratic congressman. It was interning for Roe in Washington, D.C., during the Iran-contra hearings in the summer of 1987 that turned Rumana into a visible and outspoken lover of all things government.
The 45-year-old Assyrian Lebanese model also had a stint on the Real Housewives of Miami.
It is extremely important to represent my Assyrian background.
Right now, he is the lone Christian in the ranks, flying the flag for Iraq's Chaldeans, an ancient Assyrian people who have called the region home since long before the time of Jesus.
In 1990, she immigrated to the U.S. with refugee status and earned her Master's degree from Northeastern Illinois University.
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