Iranian Immigration to the U.S.

Iranian Immigration to the U.S. In the 1970's-1980's

During the late 1970's and continuing through the 1980's the United States had one of two main influxes of immigrants from Iran (Hakimzadeh & Dixon, 2006). The first influx began around the 1950's and continued right up to the beginning of the Islamic Revolution (Hakimzadeh & Dixon, 2006). This wave of immigrants consisted mainly of students studying in the United States (Hakimzadeh & Dixon, 2006). Though their reasons for coming to the United States were quite different, many stayed for the same reasons that the next wave of Iranians came to the United States (Hakimzadeh & Dixon, 2006). It is this second group that is the focus of this analysis. Though their reasons for leaving Iran varied, most left Iran due to the persecution (or potential persecution) they received at the hands of the new regime following the Islamic Revolution of the time period (Hakimzadeh & Dixon, 2006). Many entered the United States as political and/or religious exiles, and those seeking asylum (Gillis, 2011).

Unfortunately, the assimilation of the Iranian immigrants was hindered by the Iran hostage situation and the general attitude of Americans toward all Iranians at that time (Bozorhmehr, 1998). The blatant anti-Iranianism can best be described using the Conflict Perspective put forth by Karl Marx. Further, the values and beliefs of this immigration group vary widely within the group itself making it difficult to identify as one minority group and therefore also creating a greater gulf between their core beliefs and the beliefs of the majority of people in the United States (Gillis, 2011). Unlike many political or religious immigrants who hope to one day return to their homeland, the present political and religious climate in Iran eliminates that possibility for most. Given the state of affairs at the time they left and the current state of affairs, it certainly behooved them to leave and continues to do so to this day. The oppression for some has not lifted even though the Ayatollah is no longer in control of the political machine (Haugom, 1998).

To better understand the Iranian immigrant it is important to look at the Iranian population as a whole. "The majority of Iran's population converted to the Islamic religion in the seventh century A.D. after invasion by Arab tribes, and the Shi'i sect of Islam has predominated since the sixteenth century. Most of the population (98%) is Muslim, and fully 93% are members of the Shi'i sect. The remaining Muslims are members of the Sunni sect of Islam. There are minority Christian (about 300,000), and Jewish (about 25,000 in 1984) populations, as well as Zoroastrians (about 30,000) and Baha'i (about 350,000). The latter two religions originated in Iran, but practitioners of both have been subjected to persecution by officials of the regime that came to power with the revolution in 1979. In 1987, there were 270,000 Bahais in Iran and 7,000 in the United States, of which 1,000 were identified as Iranian immigrants" (Gillis, 2011).

It is also important to understand the culture in Iran prior to and after the Islamic Revolution in order to better understand the Iranian immigrant. Immediately prior to the Islamic Revolution, Iran was governed by an autocratic monarchy in the form of Shah Pahlavi. Shah Pahlavi had allied himself with both the United States and the United Kingdom and implemented many western influences into the Iranian infrastructure. He moved away from religious tenets and laws that had governed the lives of Iranians for eons. With the majority of Iran being composed of Muslims, he had placed himself and his rule in a precarious position. Politically, there was the pro-Shah Pavlavi group which tended to be elitist, educated, and highly westernized, and then there was the religious Ayatollah Khomeini group which was comprised of Shia Islamists. To his undoing, the Shah underestimated the following of the Ayatollah and the Muslim community. Once the Ayatollah was allowed to return from exile, he led what became the Islamic Revolution. It was successful in deposing the Shah and reinstituting a governing system based on extreme interpretations of Islamic tenets and anti-westernization. It was this tumultuous political and religious environment that led this second wave of Iranian immigrants to the United States.

Because many of the supporters of the Shah's regime had relatives studying in the U.S. As a result of the first influx of Iranian immigrants, they sought asylum in that manner. Others made their pleas based on political and religious persecution issues. Others still, entered the country on student visas and managed to obtain permanent status later.

Assimilation is difficult for any migrating group, but the Iranians faced severe obstacles in the form of fierce discrimination and outright hatred by many Americans. With Americans being so ethnocentric it is extremely difficult for anyone to come from a different culture and fit in with the majority in the United States. With the prevailing sentiment towards Iranians after the Iranian Hostage Crisis, it was more than difficult, it was virtually impossible. Further, these Iranian immigrants tended to be well educated and earned good incomes, which made them more likely to seek high-status, high-income employment, which differed from the historical route of the traditional non-white immigrant. As a result, it can reasonably be argued that this situation fits within Karl Marx's Conflict Perspective, because conflict perspective focuses on the conflicts that are inherent whenever two groups are in pursuit of the same set of finite resources.

While the majority of these Iranian immigrants were Muslim, this group also consisted of Jews, Bahais, Zoroastrianists, and minority Islamic sects (Gillis, 2011). Thus, holding religious beliefs which greatly conflict with the Christian beliefs of the majority of Americans. One need only view the persecution of and discrimination of Jews in the United States to gain empathy with the plight of the Iranian immigrant. Not only did they come from a different culture but, they held religious beliefs which were not popular or mainstream in the United States.

Perhaps Nassir Ghaemi best described the differences in beliefs and cultures between Iranians and Americans when he wrote "Americans are pragmatic; Iranians are not; Americans are Calvinistic; Iranians are not; Americans worship the future, Iranians the past; Americans value forthrightness, Iranians complexity; Americans are postmodern; Iranians are not; and, Americans have imbibed science, Iranians literature" (Ghaemi, 2009).