IRAQ: Consulates to open in San Diego, Detroit
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Coming to California: The consulate of Iraq. Well, a consulate, anyway.
To help expatriates scattered around the United States and to take the strain off the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, the Foreign Ministry has decided to open two consulates in the U.S.
“Yes, there’s quite a big community in Detroit,” Foreign undersecretary Labid Abbawi said.
The other will be in — not Los Angeles or San Francisco -- but San Diego.
“Also we have quite a big number in San Diego as well,” Abbawi said. “There are also in Los Angeles a lot, but we thought San Diego was more suitable.”
According to the 2000 census, there were 3,705 Iraqis in Detroit, 2,039 in Los Angeles and 822 in San Diego.
But there are also Iraqi communities in East San Diego County, particularly Chaldeans, who are Christians. Many small-market owners and professionals are Iraqi. Some estimate that, including second generation, there are 25,000 Iraqis in the county.
Those numbers are sure to increase in the years ahead as the U.S. State Department gears up its postwar refugee program. The Bush administration set a goal of admitting 12,000 Iraqi refugees this year.
The San Diego consulate should open before the end of the year, Abbawi said.
It will assist Iraqis with documentation, passports, visas and other consular services.
Americans flying from the West Coast to Iraq will also find it convenient. Now they’ll only have to drive to San Diego to pick up their visas. That could be preferable to waiting a day or two Amman, Jordan, to get the necessary papers.
So maybe it’s only reporters and military contractors who would care. But if Iraq has turned the corner on security, as Abbawi believes, tourism is soon to follow.
“We hope the day will not be too long where you’ll be able to come and have a walk in Baghdad quite freely,” Abbawi said. “I hope this will not be long.”
— Doug Smith in Baghdad
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