Syrians have been in the US since about 1880. The Levantine migrants mainly comprised Arabic-speaking, Syrian Christians and Jews, and only a minority of Muslims. The first Syrian migrants to the US settled in New York City, Boston & Detroit. After immigration tension lessened, an estimated 64,600 Syrians immigrated to the US between 1961-2000. By 2016, about 190,000 Americans claimed to be of full or partial Syrian ancestry, roughly 12% of the total “Arab population” in the US (50,000 of them are Syrian Jews). Many recent Syrian immigrants are medical doctors who studied at Damascus & Aleppo Universities and who pursued their residencies in the US. According to the 2000 census, 42% of the Syrian Americans worked in management & professional occupations. It is estimated there are 10,000 Syrian American physicians in the US.

Today, remnants of what was the Little Syria of Manhattan, NYC remain, but descendants live on. Examples include Mitch Daniels who was the Governor of Indiana, Rosemary Barkett who served in the government, singers Paul Anka & Paula Abdul, Moustaffa Akkad who produced the movie “Halloween”, & Syrian Jewish actor Jerry Seinfeld.