I'm helping a friend begin their genealogy, and as I have not in my own lines had to deal with recent immigrants am unsure of where to start. My friend's parents are dead, so not much information is available. This family did not know whether they were Syrian or Lebanese; the censuses seem to identify them as being Syrian, but I am not sure what the geopolitical situation was at the time and whether ethnically they are Lebanese or Syrian.

Looking for information on the following family, located on the 1920 Census of Deadwood, Lawrence Co., SD:
Bashara, Joe, head, 53, b. Syria, f/m b. Syria
Martha, wife, 53, b. Syria, f/m b. Syria
Peter, son, 21, b. MN, f/m b. Syria
Sada, daughter, 18, b. MN
John, son, 15, b. MN
Jennie, daughter, 11, b. SD
George, Francis, daughter, 19, b. Mankato MN
Genevieve, daughter, 3, b. SD, f.b. U.S., m.b. SD
?unreadable, son, 9 days, b. SD, f.b. U.S., m.b. SD
[Normally, a person's relationship is supposed to be stated in relation to the Head of Household, which in this case would be Joe Bashara; however, in reviewing the last 3 people, it appears that Genevieve and the baby boy are children of Francis (Bashara) George, so technically they should have been listed as grandchildren; Francis is shown as Married, not Widowed. There appears to be an error in identifying the grandchildren's mother's place of birth - Francis stated Mankato MN, but the children's mother is shown as being born in SD] [As the eldest child Peter states he was born in MN, Joe and Martha had to have emigrated from Syria prior to about 1900.]

They are located again on the 1930 Census of Deadwood, Lawrence Co. SD, as follows:
Beshara, Joseph, head, 63, b. Syria, f/m b. Syria
Martha, wife, 63, b. Syria, f/m b. Syria
Peter, son, 31 b. MN, f/m b. Syria
Genevieve E., granddaughter, 13, b. SD, f.b. Syria, m.b. MN
Mitchell J., grandson, 10, b. SD, f.b. Syria, m.b. MN
Dorothy L., granddaughter, 8, b. SD, f.b. Syria, m.b. MN
[This census states year of immigration for Joseph & Martha to be 1896; age at first marriage for both was 20; if they were married to each other at 20, and did not emigrate until 1896, their marriage had to have taken place circa 1886/1887; they could have had older children born in Syria before they emigrated.]

Daughter Jennie Bashara/Beshara married Peter Abraham, b. MN of Syrian parents (parentage identified as Syrian on the 1930 Census of Mankato, Blue Earth Co. MN); about 1927; Jennie and Peter are found on the 1930 Census. They have two children: Marion, daughter, 3, and Edward, son, 1-8/12. Marion is my friend's mother. They are living in a neighborhood with a lot of Syrian immigrants.

I do find several other Beshara/Bashara families on the 1920 and 1930 Censuses in MN and SD.

Any information regarding this Beshara/Bashara family would be GREATLY appreciated.

Any advice on where to look to pin down when they arrived in the US would also be greatly appreciated. Also, what was the cause of what appears to be a large number of immigrants from Syria during this time?

Thank you!