ABSTRACT
Although Arab migration to the U.S. has spanned over 120 years, it is marked by three distinct waves of migration. The first wave (1890-1940) consisted of predominantly Christian migrants from Lebanon and Syria. In the second wave (after World War II and the creation of Israel), immigration was dominated by Palestinians and Muslim Arabs. The third wave (after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war) included migrants from many different countries, particularly those escaping war in Lebanon and Iraq (Abudabbeh, 2005). Due to their collective characteristics, most Arabs have migrated with their families throughout these waves, as demonstrated by the low proportion of non-family Arab American households (de la Cruz & Brittingham, 2003).
