Several Iraqi health professionals, doctors with Iraqi PhDs, participated in the research project to conduct interviews on Iraqi refugees and immigrants. Volunteers were required to undergo four-hour training on data collection. They were also responsible for contacting potential Iraqi participants for further information and consent. The greater Detroit area is home to the largest population of Iraqis in the United States. Information on participants` names and addresses was not collected. However, participants were asked to write their respective initials and initials to avoid duplication of the survey. The volunteer team collected 396 questionnaires in three months (May-July 2009). The survey included a series of questions on age, gender, health and occupation before (Iraq) and after (Michigan) the migration process. The survey also questioned what participants saw as factors that played a role in getting a job. One researcher looked at the data to identify recent immigrants after 2003 so as not to work with a sample that had been in the U.S. for too long, regardless of their legal status. We excluded participants (n = 166) who entered the United States before 2003, those over 65 years of age (n = 11) and those with disabilities (n = 3). The remaining participants (n = 218) represented the final study population.

Some variables, such as the number of years in the United States, were dichotomized into those that occurred between 2003 and 2007 and between 2008 and 2009, respectively. The reason for choosing 2008 as the deadline was that it marked the beginning of the global financial crisis. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 17.0. Chi-square tests or chi-square tests. Student`s t-tests were used to compare differences in discrete and continuous variables between refugees and immigrants. Logistic regression was used to estimate the predictive value of different promoters and barriers between refugees and immigrants. We used logistic regression to predict dichotomous outcomes (e.g., employed or unemployed) after adjusting for relevant socioeconomic factors, e.g., sex, as reported in logistic regression models. The significance was set at a bilateral p-value of <.05.

For claims of a positive association between predictors of social capital and service use, as proposed, the relationship between intra-ethnic network and service use could be positive (H4a) or negative (H4b). This network is characterised by two groups of variables, namely the number of close family members in Germany and the size of unrelated intra-ethnic friends. The results show that these two groups of networks are related differently to the service load. On the one hand, the stay of other members of the nuclear family in Germany is positively and significantly associated with an increased likelihood of using services in the areas of legal advice, financial advice and finding housing. The fact that both partners and parents live in the same country is associated with a 13-percentage-point increase in the likelihood of using housing-related services. On the other hand, however, the results show that a larger intra-ethnic network is associated with a decline in use in several regions. These results support the two competing hypotheses and therefore require detailed interpretation of differences in the mechanisms of intra-ethnic networks in different service domains. Pumariega, A. J., Rothe, E., & Pumariega, J. B. (2005). Immigrant and refugee mental health.

Community Mental Health Journal, 41(5), 581-597. doi.org/10.1007/s10597-005-6363-1 More research is needed to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms of these factors, which contribute to the higher unemployment rate among comparable refugees based on culture and skills. Moreover, contrary to our hypothesis, there were no significant differences in the factors favouring employment between refugees and immigrants. The study therefore suggests that more attention should be paid to identifying barriers to job security among refugees and not just to providing policies focused on promoting employment. The latter strategy appears to be just as relevant for refugees as it is for immigrants. Legal status seems to be a critical factor when looking for a job. This may be because employers prefer someone with regular immigration status or because immigrants are better prepared than refugees [4–6]. Immigrants know in advance exactly which country they are moving to, what steps need to be taken to find a job, and what requirements they need to meet to secure their jobs in the future. Refugees, on the other hand, generally do not know where they are moving and are therefore ill-prepared [4–6]. This may be the main reason for the gap between the success of refugees and immigrants. Even after adjusting for immigration status, age, gender and education, those who had been in the U.S.

for 2 years or less were significantly less likely to find employment. This finding underscores the importance of early and proactive vocational and language training programs. It may be that after a few years of settlement, immigrants lose their self-esteem and motivation and, as a result, stop looking for work. Our results contrast with some previous studies suggesting that length of stay in the new country is directly related to probability of employment [3], although other research supports our conclusions [8]. Neither group believed that their inability to find employment was due to poor health or discriminatory reasons. This contrasts with other studies [5, 6, 8, 20]. Poor health, as mentioned, has been discussed as a barrier to refugee employment [5,6,20]. Refugees and immigrants strongly believe that relevant U.S. labour market experience has been the most important factor in finding employment. Participation in training or other support services did not appear to be helpful [4].

Immigrants reported that they were more satisfied with their jobs than refugees. More immigrants were able to get the same advanced jobs they had in the country. Among refugees, only 1 in 160 managed to find the same job as at home, which may explain why refugees were much less satisfied with their current job [4]. Consistent with our findings, legal residency is considered in the literature as an important factor in promoting work [4–6]. This factor plays a minor role in our study, as all of our participants are legal residents of the United States. Language proficiency has also been identified as a critical factor in obtaining employment [8–10]. A significantly higher percentage of refugees in this study identified insufficient language skills as one of the main barriers. Some of our results do not corroborate previously announced results. As mentioned above, employment plays a crucial role in an individual`s well-being. Obtaining employment is the main objective for both immigrants and refugees, given the unemployment rate; We predicted that this would have negative health effects, which was not the case, at least in the short term. In particular, we hypothesized that refugees would associate many of their barriers with health problems, for a variety of reasons already mentioned in the literature [5]. Overall, regardless of immigrant status, health was the least reported barrier.

Specific expertise in the United States has been considered a strong promoter of career success in the literature, but this finding has not been corroborated in this study [4–6]. Immigrants reported a much lower percentage of U.S. expertise than refugees, but were still more successful. The early integration of refugees into American society can also play an important role in improving language skills and improving socioeconomic status. As newcomers integrate more quickly and easily into American culture, there are measurable benefits both for the social and economic fabric of the host country and for immigrants themselves. [23] Refugees cannot expect to participate fully in the life of a new country unless they are recognized as a group with specific cultural and ethnic experiences and contributions. The analysis shows that the threat to minority identity is the greatest obstacle to social harmony [23] The best way to achieve social harmony is to maintain, not weaken, the identity of subgroups [23]. Hirayama, K. K., Hirayama, H., & Cetingok, M.

(1993). Mental health promotion for Southeast Asian refugees in the United States. International Social Work, 36(2), 119-129. Personal barriers can also be barriers to support services. The most striking example is the language barrier, Footnote 3, which often occurs when refugees seek help for multiple needs shortly after arriving in a new country, but do not yet speak or understand the language of the host country (Bajwa et al., 2017; Choi et al., 2015; Makwarimba et al., 2013; Watkins et al., 2012). Stewart et al. (2008) show that language difficulties are the predominant factor explaining refugees` support needs in the areas of job search, settlement assistance and medical care.