Important Things You Should Know Before Traveling to America
This is the first episode of the series “America Is Just a Short Ride Away.” I start with what I said at the beginning: this series is not an invitation to emigrate to America, and not an invitation to leave your Arab homeland. It is an opportunity for those who want to emigrate and do not know the way, and for those who want to settle in American society and learn a great deal about it. I advise you to bring a pen and paper and write down with me the points we will cover over the episodes. Today’s episode is the first, so I will give you detailed information about American society.
America is a vast continent with a relatively small population
America is considered a continent because of its enormous area, but its population is small relative to that area. At the time of recording the population was close to 320 million, and that means they will need about 50 million immigrants in the future.
A kind people, and a society built on immigration
I see Americans as a kind people, because America was founded on immigration from all over the world. You will find many states with a mix of races, nationalities and ethnic groups. That means you will most likely not find anyone mocking your accent or dialect. Even if you do not speak English, do not be afraid.
Undocumented immigrants
The third point: there are about 11 million undocumented immigrants, and although they live inside American society, no one in that society is interested in looking for them or causing them any problems. So as long as you live in American society, even if you have no papers, be sure that you will receive all your rights as long as you do not cause big problems. Big problems are the ones that can end with you receiving a deportation order.
The Social Security number
This is a very important point. The American system is built on the Social Security number, which we call the national ID number in Egypt and which some Arab countries call the national identity number. Your life in America is tied to this number, and without the national identity number, that is, the Social Security number, you will not be able to do anything of substance in the country: you will not be able to open a bank account, you will not be able to get a driver’s license, and so you will not be able to get official papers. But going back to the previous point: as long as you do not cause big problems in the country, no one will ask you, while you are walking in the street, to show your residence papers or your official papers.
You can earn good money with relative ease
This is a very important point for young people coming from the Arab countries. In America you can earn a good income easily. In our Arab homelands we are used to working ten hours and fourteen hours a day to get the bare minimum that covers us and our families, but here the situation is different.
And life in America is somewhat cheap when compared with the average wage and with the average annual income of American families. With a little effort and a little intelligence you can earn very good money, in a way that is one hundred percent halal.
Are there strong Arab and Muslim communities?
Yes, there is a strong Arab community in the states with a high proportion of Arabs, such as New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Michigan and California. In some states there are large Arab communities in particular cities, but not across the whole state. One example is Houston in Texas, which has a large proportion of Arabs and Muslims. You can live in these states and find people who practice your customs and traditions at the individual level.
Arabs are successful to a large degree. The average annual income of many Arab families is much higher than the average income of American families, so at the individual level they are successful. At the social level, however, Arabs have no political or social weight in American society, and perhaps the reason is a big problem they have with coming together under one umbrella that presents their ideas and their vision.
The number of Muslims in America was about eight million at the time of recording. That is a large number, but they suffer from the same problem: they are not gathered under one umbrella that unites them, despite the existence of major American Muslim organizations such as ISNA, ICNA and MAS. For that reason the influence of Muslims on American political life is very slight.
The second and third generations, and identity
Can the children of immigrants, in the second and third generations, keep their identity? No one can answer yes or no absolutely, because it depends to a large extent on where you live. Immigrants coming from the Arab regions, Muslims or Christians, if they connect their children with schools that follow their religion, Islamic or Christian, can raise a second and third generation that keeps its identity.
But I remind you that American society was founded on melting immigrants from all cultures and nationalities and merging them into modern American life. That means America is not paradise, and you will struggle a great deal in raising your children. But overall you can raise children who keep their identity in a society better than our Arab societies.
Is there racism?
I can say that there is no racism in the form you imagine about American society. But in some states that do not have a large number of immigrants, people are surprised to see some immigrants, especially from an Arab or Islamic background. As long as you are in states with a mix of races and nationalities, I believe you will not face any racism of any kind. And American law fights hard against any racist abuse that one person commits against another.
Summary of the episode
I end with what I began with: this series is not an invitation to emigrate from the Arab homelands. It is an opportunity to understand American society and a help for those who want to come to America and do not know where to start. And I stress a second, third and fourth time: America is not paradise, but it remains the land of equal opportunity, or the land of the second chance, as Americans like to describe their country.
Article originally published on 3 October 2026.