Habib Mandwee says he cherishes the moment he became a U.S. Citizen. He says that day in 1986 “was a great day for me.”
Mandwee says he felt welcome in America as he launched his businesses, which include Tiffany’s Wine and Spirit Shoppe and the restaurants Zooroona and Rustica in Kalamazoo. But Mandwee says he recently started to be asked questions about his religion and where he is from when people here his accent.
Mandwee was born in Kirkuk in Northern Iraq, and came to the United States in 1980 to attend Western Michigan University. He planned to go back to Iraq after graduating. But in 1980 the Iraq-Iran war started. Mandwee decided to stay and pursue his entrepreneurial dream.
President Trump’s executive order bans all immigrants for 90 days from seven nations, including Mandwee’s native Iraq. He says the news was “kind of shocking.”
Mandwee was returning from the Dominican Republic when the order was issued. Mandwee says he regularly travels outside the country, and usually goes to the Dominican Republic every year. He says this time the immigration officer asked questions that were outside “the norm.” But Mandwee says he’s not sure if the additional questioning was related to the executive order.
Mandwee says he understands the need to have strong border security. But he says the majority of people who come to the United States come for business, and to pursue their dreams not to do harm.
