The first wave of Kurdish immigrants arrived as refugees during the 1970s as a result of the Iraqi – Kurdish conflict . A second wave of Kurdish immigrants arrived in the 1990s fleeing Saddam Hussein 's genocidal Anfal Campaign in northern Iraq . The most recent wave of Kurdish immigrants arrived as a result of the 2011 Syrian Civil War and the 2014 Iraqi Civil War , including a number who worked as translators for the U.S. military
Anfal Campaign
Anfal genocide
Kurdish Americans