jority of these refugees have settled in the United States, with southern California being their top choice for relocation. There are also large settlements of Persians to be found in the New York area, as well as in various other major cities throughout the United States (Hartman III 12).
In addition to religious minorities, many of these emigrants had been members of the educational and political elite in Iran (Metz 81). Many held professional jobs as doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, and businessmen (Beauchamp 60). These people were comparatively wealthy when they lived in Iran. Upon arriving in the United States, however, many Persians have suffered from the economic struggles which are typical of the burden of being a minority in the United States. They find themselves "twice removed from the pleasurable and orderly customs of the past, first by the Ayatollah Khomeini, then by the struggle to make ends meet in the United States" (Christon 4). Persian newcomers are often the victims of hostility among Americans who are concerned about their own economic conditions and feel that they are in "competition for jobs with the new immigrants" (Reimers 170). As a result of this hostility, Persian immigrants are frequently victims of racism or discrimination and thus find it extremely difficult to get jobs in America which are equivalent to the ones they left behind in Iran. Furthermore, they may suffer from a language barrier. Persians are often victims of economic prejudice because of American hatred for the Iranian government. This is ironic, because virtually all Persians have come to
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