The dilemma of Saudi Americans

I was on a quick trip last week to two of the major cities in the world. The first was to Washington D.C. the capital of democracy and what is known as the free world. The second was to the lively city of New York, the Big Apple of business and innovation.
In Washington, I met with my old Saudi American friend Walid Abbduljawad, who is the Senior Policy Analyst at the US Department of State. Whenever I communicate with Walid the main subject is always the vital but absent role that Saudi Americans can provide to their country of origin.
I did some research on the actual numbers of Saudis that currently have US citizenship. The only recourse I could find was an outdated American census from the year 2000, which provides a number of 9,419 people who are from Saudi origin.
Other research disclosed the successful story of Ferial Al-Masry who became the first Saudi American to run for political office in US history, when she campaigned for California State Assembly in 2004.
Another Saudi American story would be the young Engineer Mishaal Al-Shmeemri, who was the first Saudi American female to join NASA after receiving a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida.
When I traveled to New York, I met with another delightful Saudi personality Abdulmohsen Alyas, the Saudi UN mission’s spokesman.
We had a quick chat on the growing number of Saudi students in the US, and the positive influence they would carry back with them.
Through that short discussion, I came to realize that Saudi students were deeply committed to Saudi values and way of life. Their strong family ties, keeps them from trying to obtain a working permit or Green card from the US.
If we combined that fact with the US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which recognizes favored treatment for residents educated in the US that would limit the number of Saudis that want to seek US citizenship. This in turn will result in the Saudi American community being a scalable minority.
It also seems that the relatively small numbers of Saudi Americans have a limiting effect on the cultural involvement and development of the Saudi American community as a whole. It would be interesting to see whether this tiny community will continue to connect and interact with their land of origin, or will they find a new source of inspiration for their lives and the lives of their children?
It was indeed an enlightening and delightful trip. My friends Walid and Abdulmohsen and their families gave my small family and I a real Saudi welcome and generous hospitality reminiscent of home, only made possible because they were living there in the US.