Chaldeans facing deportation from Detroit

On immigration, when one thinks of illegal immigrants, Chaldeans don't come to mind. It's already been known that the stereotype of illegal immigration is someone from either Mexico or Central America. Many pundits and city officials are quick to forget that illegal immigrants come from multiple regions of the world ie Asia, Europe and Africa. This week, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) an appropriate name for its raison d etre and modus operandi, has rounded up hundreds of illegal immigrants across the country. ICE has been busy in Detriot as well rounding up and detaining Chaldeans that ICE claim will be deported for previous crimes ranging from mild and hard.



Michigan has been facing its share of both environmental and social breakdowns over the past few years. The ongoing poisoned water crisis, rashes and skin diseases suffered by the children and parents of Flint has not ended. It is not surprise for many Americans who are familiar with the United States' long stand infrastructure damage. No other city represents the decay of the U.S. and particularly the Midwest rust belt as Detroit. One of the largest and more well known cities in the mitten shaped state on the border with Canada, Detroit is a case study in the history and present of American decline and infrastructural collapse. Parts of Detroit resemble pieces of Chernobyl or an abandoned gold mine town. The city government and a few residents have tried to change Detroit's image as the "Chernobyl of the U.S." around for years with a few success. But the image of a destroyed and rusted Detroit still reminds.



Among the Detroit residents who call the Motor City home are the Chaldean Americans and Arab Americans. Detroit of all the cities in the Midwest, is home to the largest Arab American population outside of the Middle East and Europe. It has one of the larger Yemeni, Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese communities in Michigan itself. Chaldens or Iraqi Christians have been living in Detroit, Michigan for a few decades now. Chaldean Town used to be one of the largest Chaldean areas in Detroit but has slowly disappeared. Chaldeans are another name for Assyrians as in the Assyrian Empire in Iraq or in ancient times, Mesopotamia. Few Assyrians also refer to themselves as Arameans. All three refer to Assyria or Chaldea (its pronounced Kawdiya). Oh yes, not everyone from the Middle East is Arab or Muslim. The Kurds, Turks, Persians and Chaldeans (Assyrians) are not Arabs and do not like being confused with Arabic speakers. It has nothing to do with hatred or disrespect to their fellow Iraqis. Chaldeans are among the oldest Christians in the world alongside Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and Coptic Christians in Egypt and Sudan. Chaldeans and other non Arab and non Arabic speaking Christians are often ignored by the geopolitical pundits and media analysts on the Middle East. There distinction tend to be glossed over between the various ethnic groups nor realize that there are millions of Christians still in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine (the birthplace of Christianity). Just how there are Yemeni, Iranian and Tunisian Jews in their respective countries who have no intentions of ever running to Israel. Why would they? Chaldean Americans own businesses, most of the gas stations in Detroit, restaurants and churches in the metro area. They tend to get lumped in with the wider Arab Americans despite having their own identity. Iraq like many countries in the Middle East is multiethnic, religous and multilingual. Lumping every ethnic group in Iraq into an Arab group has caused many eye rolls and lectures on the often ignored diversity of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The same goes for Palestine and



Author's Note:
Being Arab is not a straight forward question. Arab identity is based more on language and culture than ethnicity. By this definition Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians, Southern Egyptians, Sudanese and Libyans wouldn't be considered Arabs, they are actually Berbers or Imazighen African peoples. Except for Sudanese who are mostly Nubian, as in Ancient Nubia, Niolitic and West African peoples. Back to the

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