
Contents
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In the Land of Immigrants In the Land of Immigrants
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In the Belly of the Welfare State In the Belly of the Welfare State
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Newcomers, Poverty, and Public Assistance Newcomers, Poverty, and Public Assistance
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Benefits and Beneficiaries: Gender Power Recalibrated? Benefits and Beneficiaries: Gender Power Recalibrated?
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Refugees at Work Refugees at Work
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Somali Women: Contested “Empowerment” Somali Women: Contested “Empowerment”
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Somali Men: Labor Market Experiences Somali Men: Labor Market Experiences
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Self-Employment Self-Employment
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Affordable Housing: Neighborhoods and Neighbors Affordable Housing: Neighborhoods and Neighbors
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Transnational Ties: Nostalgia for and Relations with the Homeland Transnational Ties: Nostalgia for and Relations with the Homeland
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Gendered Motivations: Dreams of Return Gendered Motivations: Dreams of Return
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Men and Return: Nostalgia for Tradition Men and Return: Nostalgia for Tradition
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Women and Return: In Search of Social Mobility Women and Return: In Search of Social Mobility
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4 United States: Slippery Jannah?
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Published:August 2015
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Abstract
Chapter Four examines how Somalis’ ultimate imagined Eden, the United States, measures to expectations. Life for Somali refugees who succeed in reaching America is rife with challenges. State and federal refugee settlement policies unintentionally, but profoundly, disrupt Somalis’ sense of identity. Unlike the UAE and South Africa, Somalis’ religion defines them as ‘other’ in conjunction with their racial and socio-economic position. Despite access to citizenship documents, contact with American institutions disrupt gender and family dynamics, and fuel longings for return to the home country. Interestingly, despite these profound struggles, family members left behind in Somalia and its neighboring countries still idealize the United States. For all these reasons, Somali experiences in the United States often fail to align with the image that they brought with them from the Horn. Paradoxically, despite access to permanent residence documents and even highly coveted American citizenship, first-generation Somalis do not develop a strong sense of belonging, as they become aware that their lives and those of their children are now defined by their refugee status, their Muslim faith, and their newly acquired black identity, leaving them struggling at the bottom of a heavily racialized and profoundly unequal economy.
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