The status of the Mandaeans has prompted a number of American intellectuals and civil rights activists to call upon the U.S. government to extend refugee status to the community. In 2007, "The New York Times" ran an op-ed piece in which Swarthmore professor Nathaniel Deutsch called for the Bush administration to take immediate action to preserve the community. Iraqi Mandaeans were given refugee status by the US State Department in 2007. Since then more than 2500 have entered the US, many settling in Worcester, Massachusetts. The community in Worcester is believed to be the largest in the United States and the second largest community outside the Middle East. 2,600 Mandaeans from Iran have been settled in Texas since the Iraq War.