Real Voices from Syrian Refugees in the United States: State of Michigan

This chapter is built upon 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with Syrian refugees who resettled in the United States due to the civil war in Syria in 2011. The sample consists of seven females and 13 males from three cities in Michigan. The chapter commences by offering a background on the Syrian refugees’ situation in Michigan state, followed by a detailed account of the research methodology employed for the study and the informants’ data. It is followed by a narrative overview of the integration experiences of the resettled refugees. The narrative discussion is based on the sorted codes into different themes in light of the integration dimensions and the resettlement stages. The experiences of the participants covered three main areas: (i) legal integration, which includes identity and rights, legal status and affiliation, and political participation, (ii) economic integration, including employment and self-sufficiency, education, health care, and housing, and (iii) sociocultural integration, which involves social bonds, bridges, and links. The chapter concludes with several remarks, the most important of which is a lack of consistency in integration programs and support levels among Syrian refugees.