Lebanon was the site of intense fighting from roughly 1975 to 1990 and was invaded by both Israel and Syria.
Elzein and his family decided it would be safe for him to attend college in the United States because an American organization was working with Lebanese residents to help them enroll in American colleges.
So Elzein passed an English exam and packed his bags. On his last night before departing for America, Elzein stayed up all night with his loved ones, who were forced out of their home and were hiding away in the mountains for their safety.
“I was very fortunate, because it seems — how do you say it — the stars were aligned,” he said.
Elzein studied in Chicago on a student visa, finished his studies, and then returned briefly to his family in Lebanon.
But that reunification was short-lived; opportunity was limited and days were chaotic under the occupation. Lebanese residents at times were required to have written permission, somewhat like visas, to travel around their own country. And thousands of civilian deaths resulted from the Lebanese Civil War. It’s estimated that one million Lebanese residents were displaced due to the conflict.
The years that followed his return to the United States were filled with major life changes for Elzein: Degrees. The purchase of his first car, a Nissan Sentra. A move to Texas to take on a company-sponsored job at a nuclear plant. The loss of the job he worked for years. The loss of his father.
But amidst these things, he made the big step of becoming a U.S. citizen in 1995 and moved to Dayton with his wife three years later. He loved the pace of Dayton and felt at ease.
Then came the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Elzein said this is a day when he was sad for his fellow citizens, while also fearing what impact it would have on his family and others like him.
He said he also feared he would not be welcomed to the job he just accepted at Dayton International Airport. So much so that he called a supervisor at the airport to ask if the offer would be revoked.
The airport director at the time arranged for Elzein to meet him to discuss the job.
“I thought, maybe you are not interested in hiring a person like me with the name Youssef from Lebanon,” he said. “But he looked at me and said, the job is yours. The door is still open.”
It’s Dayton that taught Elzein how to amplify his voice. He is a member of numerous grassroots organizations geared toward eliminating racism and building a stronger community, including the Miami Valley Immigrant Coalition. He’s even run for a handful of public offices in recent years.
Elzein said this was in part sparked by the first Trump administration’s targeted efforts toward Arab families and Muslims. In 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that prohibited citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations — Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen — from entering the United States for a period of 90 days. This order also suspended the entry of Syrian refugees and instituted a 120-day pause on refugee admissions from other nations.
But this year, Elzein said, has carried a different sense of pressure.
This Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policy has seen a spike in ICE raids even in the Dayton community. Targeted rhetoric about Haitians in Springfield during 2024 paired with new focuses on Somali immigrants have families “living in fear,” Elzein said.
Elzein said that like him, many of the immigrants coming to the U.S. are fleeing warfare. He fears what lasting impact that will have on communities, but he has hope for his home: Dayton.
“Get to know some of the immigrants that are living in this city,” he said. “Ask them questions, talk to them. You’ll find out that we’re not any different.”
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