Chaldean News

THE

DETROIT
JEW 1 SH NEWS

building
community

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INITIATIVE

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Similar struggles,
decades apart

ecades prior to the wave of Chaldean
refugees seeking asylum in southeast
Michigan, Jews fleeing similar religious
persecution set the example of successful
resettlement. Even at the turn of the cen-
tury, with the American auto industry in full
swing and a booming economy, life wasn't
easy for early immigrants.
Many Jews left behind professional lives,
as did Chaldeans, for the chance to start
new Doctors, educators and lawyers fled
their homeland and picked up a broom at a
local shop; quite often the only way, with the
language barrier, they could earn a living. As
wilily followed, they learned customs and
settled close to those already established.
"Immigrants have come here, in many
ways, to reunite with their families," said
Norm Keane, executive director of Jewish
Family Service.
Early Chaldean immigrants fell victim to
the language barrier as well. "Men who used
to run several stores now wash dishes in a
restaurant. Women who were pharmacists
now clean houses," says University of De-
troit Law School professor David Koelsch.
Immigration policies that are inconsis-
tent and/or inadequate have also adversely
affected both populations through the years.
"The turning away of the MS St. Louis
displayed a staggering failure of the U.S.
government to appreciate the reality of the
situation facing European Jews," said Koel-
sch, referring to a German ocean liner full
of Jewish refugees sent back to Germany
shortly before WWII. He continues, "While
parallels with the Holocaust are impossible,
the inconsistency in [current] refugee pro-
cessing shows a failure on the part of the
U.S. government to accurately understand
the nature of the Chaldean population."
Chaldean Federation Executive Direc-
tor Joseph Kassab explains the Jewish
support and kinship etched in history,
"The reason for that...is the hardship they
endured through Europe and the Middle
East. Now we're having similar problems
in our own country."
With a growing support system of sec-
ond- and third-generation Chaldeans and
well-established Jews in Metro Detroit, the
fight for refugee freedom continues with
each community well-positioned to lend a
hand, as their ancestors did for them.

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Jews from the former Soviet Union await family
reunification at JFK International Airport in 1982.
Since the late 1970s, more than 1,000 families were
resettled in the Detroit Jewish community.

executive director of the Jewish agency established
in 1928, aillibutes the collaboration to previous
generations. "Jews had the same difficulties when
they first immigrated — language barriers and find-
ing a job, initially. Had our parents, ancestors not
been in the same place, we may not have made it
here. We understand their [Chaldeans] path."

Personal and professional lessons

In the legal area, a student clinic at the University
of Detroit Mercy School of Law provides free guid-
ance and filings in immigration cases. "Changing
policies created confusion and uncertainty among
refugees and their family members," Professor Da-
vid Koelsch told the Chaldean News in April. "More
than anything else, refugees and their families
need consistency. They need to know where they
will rebuild their lives."
He and another faculty member oversee a dozen
second- and third-year students, including young
Chaldeans who combine personal passion with aca-
demic skills. "Having family that has dealt with this in
the past, it hits home," senior Sandy Savaya explained
to the Chaldean News before graduating in May "You
understand more of what they went through."
Kassab, the Chaldean Federation of America di-
rector, appreciates the win-win law school relation-
ship. "Organizations like these open the door for Chal-
dean refugees," he said. "Continuing to pound on the
tables and knock on doors alongside advocates has
helped lift restrictions on Iraqi refugee immigration."
For families who fled Iraq, supportive outreach by
future lawyers, Jewish neighbors and the Hebrew
Immigrant Aid Society represents "the home of the
free" as much as campaign lawn signs, the anthem
before Tigers games and the banner atop flagpoles.

Alan Stamm and Justin Fisette are writers
for Tanner Friedman, a marketing
communications firm in Farmington Hills.

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August 5 • 2010

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