| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2020 US Census: [1] 91,288 Yemeni-born, 2023 [2] 71,471 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New York, Michigan, Virginia, Illinois, California | |
| Languages | |
| Arabic • English | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arabs |
| Lists of Americans |
|---|
| By US state |
| By ethnicity |
Yemeni Americans are Americans of Yemeni ancestry. According to an estimate in 2010, more than 100,000 Yemenis live in the United States.
Although it is unknown when Yemenis first arrived, it is believed that Yemenis were immigrating to the U.S. after 1869, and are recorded in the 1890s. Some Yemenis gained U.S. citizenship by fighting in World War I and World War II. Yemeni immigrants settled in existing Lebanese communities in cities like New York. They were outcast as Muslims, as the Lebanese communities were predominantly Christian, as were Syrian and Palestinian communities. After becoming situated, many Yemenis traveled westward for better job opportunities. [3] In many places of United States, such as Chicago, Brooklyn (New York), and South Dearborn (Michigan), the first Yemeni entrepreneurs were owners of cafes and delis (a well-known example being internet personality Khalid Attaf). [4] However, these companies are not characteristic of Yemeni culture, and it is likely that they have been owners of cafes under the influence of Lebanese and Palestinian communities longer. [5] Many Yemeni-Americans also worked in factories in the Rust Belt of the upper Northeast and Midwest. During the Great Depression of 1929 and until 1945, end of World War II, Yemeni immigration to United States slowed dramatically. Immigration then increased afterward. When in 1965 the quota system for immigration was eliminated, Yemenis could more easily gain visas to reside in and gain employment in the United States. This prompted a great increase in the numbers of Yemeni immigrants. Another feature of Yemeni immigrants in the U.S. is that in the years of immigration that occurred to 1970, nearly all immigrants from Yemen were adult males. [3]
Although the overwhelming majority of Yemeni Americans are Muslim, there are also some American Jews of Yemeni ancestry, mostly whose parents or ancestors came to the U.S. via Israel. Significant Yemeni communities exist in The Bronx, New York (especially around Morris Park in an enclave called Little Yemen); Brooklyn, New York; the Buffalo metropolitan area (especially in Lackawanna, New York); [6] [7] Dearborn, Michigan; Hamtramck, Michigan; Falls Church, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Bakersfield, California; Oakland, California; and Fresno, California. Over 30,000 Yemeni Americans live in Michigan. A significant population of Yemeni Americans live in the southside of Dearborn (Salina area). A few Yemenis had arrived in Michigan around 1900 but a much larger group came to work in the Ford Motor Company's Rouge Plant in the 1920s. [8] Immigration to Michigan is still occurring. A survey of Arab Americans in the Detroit area after 9/11 found that Yemenis made up 9% of the area's Arab population and that Yemenis had the largest families, the lowest rate of business ownership (3% compared to 20% for other Arab groups), and a high rate of employment in "trades" as opposed to services, administration, professional or sales (43 percent in trades compared to 7 to 17 percent for other Arabs groups). [9] Anthropologist Loukia K. Sarroub while investigating the Dearborn Yemeni culture through the perspective of 6 high-school age girls noted that the community was a "'Yemeni village' in the United States" where "this community continued to live much as they did in Yemen". [10]
Sally Howell, author of Howell, "Competing for Muslims: New Strategies for Urban Renewal in Detroit", wrote that Yemeni people had a presence in the Metro Detroit area since the late 1960s and "they have participated more actively in transnational practices than have other Arab Americans". [11]
Yemeni Americans speak both English and Arabic. They speak many different dialects of Arabic, including: Sanaani or Northern Yemeni dialect, Ta'izzi-Adeni or Southern Yemeni dialect, Hadrami dialect, Mehri dialect, and Judeo-Yemeni dialect. Most of them are Muslim, [3] though some are also Jewish.
Yemeni Americans have supported the Democratic Party in recent elections. Majority of the community backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election and Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. [12] In recent years, Yemeni Americans have become more politically active and have increasingly run for political offices. [13] Several Yemeni American politicians have won local and state elections. [14] [15]
The Yemeni American Net was established in June 2007 as a web-site dedicated to bring a view to the world on the Yemeni Americans. One year later, a newspaper was established as the Yemeni American News. The American Association of Yemeni Scientists and Professionals promotes Yemenis in technical fields and provides a college scholarship program. [16] The Yemeni American Association and the Yemeni American Benevolent Association also provide scholarships. [17] [18]
The Yemenite Jewish Federation of America was founded in 1995. American Yemeni Jews took an active role in rescuing European Jews during the holocaust. [19] [20]
Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. It is an inner-ring suburb in Metro Detroit, bordering Detroit to the south and west, and roughly 7 miles (11.3 km) west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976, ranking as the seventh-most populous city in Michigan. Dearborn is best known as the hometown of the Ford Motor Company and of its founder, Henry Ford.
Hamtramck is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Hamtramck is located roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) north of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 28,433, and was by far the most densely populated municipality in Michigan. It is notable as the only Muslim-majority city in the United States.
Arab Americans are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants from the Arab world. In the United States census, Arabs are a part of the "White" race group because the definition of "White" as "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa".
Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim, are Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of the country's Jewish population emigrated to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet. After several waves of persecution, the vast majority of Yemenite Jews now live in Israel, while smaller communities live in the United States and elsewhere. As of 2024, only five Jews remained in Yemen, with one of them being Levi Marhabi.
Fordson High School is a secondary school located in Dearborn, Michigan, United States in Metro Detroit. It was completed in 1928 on a 15-acre (61,000 m2) parcel of land which was then the village of Fordson, named for Henry Ford and his son Edsel Ford. It is a part of Dearborn Public Schools.
The Dearborn Public Schools is a school district that includes the entire city of Dearborn, Michigan and a small portion of Dearborn Heights, both in Greater Detroit. Dearborn Public Schools is the third largest school district in Michigan, serving 20,000 students. The district had a $233 million budget for 2021.
Operation Magic Carpet is a widely known nickname for Operation On Wings of Eagles, an operation between June 1949 and September 1950 that brought 49,000 Yemenite Jews to the new state of Israel. During its course, the overwhelming majority of Yemenite Jews – some 47,000 from Yemen, 1,500 from Aden, as well as 500 from Djibouti and Eritrea and some 2,000 Jews from Saudi Arabia – were airlifted to Israel. British and American transport planes made some 380 flights from Aden.
Lebanese Americans are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon.
Iraqi Americans are American citizens of Iraqi descent. As of 2015, the number of Iraqi Americans is around 145,279, according to the United States Census Bureau.
</ref> Amongst the native population, there were approximately 1,000 Christians, and 6 remaining Jews in 2016. However, Pew-Templeton estimates the number of Christians to be as high as 40,000, though most do not publicly identify as such, due to fears of religious persecution. According to WIN/Gallup International polls, Yemen has the most religious population among Arab countries and it is one of the most religious populations world-wide.
Yemeni diaspora refers to Yemeni migrants and their descendants who, whether by choice or coercion, emigrated from Yemen and now reside in other countries.
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,196,250 people, 1,682,111 households, and 1,110,454 families residing within the Detroit–Warren–Ann Arbor Combined Statistical Area. Within the Detroit–Warren–Dearborn Metropolitan Statistical Area, there were 4,296,250 people residing. The census reported 70.1% White, 22.8% African-American, 0.3% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.2% of the population. Arab Americans were at least 4.7% of the region's population.
The Detroit metropolitan area has one of the largest concentrations of people of Middle Eastern origin, including Arabs and Chaldo-Assyrians in the United States. As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeast Michigan traced their descent from the Middle East. Dearborn's sizeable Arab community consists largely of Lebanese people who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, and of more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. In 2010 the four Metro Detroit counties had at least 200,000 people of Middle Eastern origin. Bobby Ghosh of TIME said that some estimates gave much larger numbers. From 1990 to 2000 the percentage of people speaking Arabic in the home increased by 106% in Wayne County, 99.5% in Macomb County, and 41% in Oakland County.
The organization Global Detroit stated that the largest group of ethnic Albanians not in Europe is in Metro Detroit. As of 2014, 4,800 ethnic Albanians live in Macomb County, making up the fourth-largest ethnic group in that county, and the highest concentration of Albanians in Metro Detroit. There are also several thousand in Wayne County, with most living outside Detroit city limits; Hamtramck and St. Clair Shores are plentiful in Albanian American and Kosovar-Albanian American communities. There are at least ethnically 30,200 Albanian people in Michigan, consistuting 0.3% of Michigan's population.
Islam is practiced by several Muslim American groups in Metro Detroit.
Yemenite Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Yemenite Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. They number around 400,000 in the wider definition. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the overwhelming majority of Yemen and Aden's Jewish population was transported to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet.
Arab Detroit: From Margin to Mainstream is a book published by Wayne State University Press in 2000, edited by Nabeel Abraham and Andrew Shryock. It discusses the Arab population in Metro Detroit.
Islamophobia/Islamophilia: Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend is a 2010 book edited by Andrew Shryock, published by Indiana University Press.
Fayrouz Saad is an American public official and politician. She is the Executive Director of the Office of Global Michigan, and was the first Director of Detroit's Office of Immigrant affairs under Mayor Mike Duggan.
Abraham Aiyash is an American politician serving as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives since 2020, currently representing the 9th district. A member of the Democratic Party, Aiyash serves as the chamber's majority floor leader. He represents much of Detroit's Midtown, New Center, North End, Boston Edison, Virginia Park, and all of the city of Hamtramck.
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Arab Americans by state of origin | ||
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| Africa |  | |
| Asia | ||
| By location | ||
Based on state membership in the Arab League. | ||
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| East Asian | ||
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