Apparently, Michigan has the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the USA. I know people tend to settle near others who are similar, but why Michigan specifically?
The Ford plant, if I’m reading things correctly. Let me find a cite.
ETA, from Michigan’s wiki page
Dearborn has a sizeable Arab American community, with many Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac, and Lebanese who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, along with more recent [Yemenis]
(Yemeni Americans - Wikipedia) and Iraqis
From the wiki footnote:
The auto industry in general drove many people to come to Detroit for good paying jobs. You might as well ask why so many black people came up from the south to live in Detroit, people follow the good paying jobs.
But also, Detroit is just across the border from Canada. So imigrants families can settle in both places and be near each other. Depending on the political climate at the time one country may be easier to immigrate to, which would allow familes to be reloacted near each other.
That was a whole thing by itself, with its own historic driving factors. Jobs were part of it, but not all of it:
From the article:
Between 1910 and 1930, the African-American population increased by about 40% in Northern states as a result of the migration, mostly in the major cities. The cities of Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Baltimore, and New York City had some of the biggest increases in the early part of the twentieth century. Tens of thousands of Black workers were recruited for industrial jobs, such as positions related to the expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
There is a Wikipedia page that specifically addresses the OP’s question:
Here in North Olmsted, Ohio there has been a an influx of Middle Eastern people in the past 10 years. They are easy to spot since the women wear head coverings. We now have 3 Middle Eastern food markets and a jewelry store plus several others in a small area. Many younger ladies have found jobs in stores. Many are well off since Mercedes are a favorite car. I really don’t know why this has occurred.
It seems like if it was just migration for jobs, then there would be a variety of similar groups of migrants from around the world. I would think that migrants from lots of different countries would come for the same jobs that the Arab migrants would be coming for. Was there something special about auto jobs that appealed to Arab immigrants but not to immigrants from other countries? Is there some reason that the immigration would be unequally appealing for Arabs rather than being more evenly distributed among worldwide immigrants?
This article discusses why.
What about Minneapolis? Why them? IIRC they have a large middle eastern population too?
Middle Eastern or Hmong?
Wisconsin has a large population of Hmong people. IIRC, it’s related to the Vietnam war ending. It wouldn’t surprise me if Minnesota does as well.
ETA
Unfortunately, a lot of refugees are brought to the States to be fresh meat (no pun intended) in the slaughterhouse industry, because they don’t know about things like workplace safety and labor laws, and they leave for much greener pastures when they find out.
It’s not just Third World refugees, either; I had a contract job in Waterloo, Iowa in the late 1990s, when large numbers of Bosnians were brought here, and I’ve heard about cities “hosting” Venezuelans. Prior to those wars or economic collapse, many of them had lifestyles similar to those in America - as in, they knew how to use electricity and flush toilets.
In addition it was a humanitarian effort on the part of churches helping assist refugees with housing and jobs/ training, enrolling the kids in school