A Source of Immigration

The Filipino American population has boomed ever since the 1970’s. At a time where there were only around 300 thousand Filipino Americans, compared to a time now where there are almost 2.4 million. Part of this population boom is due to the Philippines

 becoming a territory of the United States in 1898. The Filipinos who immigrated to the United States served as laborers prominently in the agriculture field.

The integration of the Philippines into the world market by the United States proved to be a crippling effect for many family-owned farms in the Philippines. With little or no source of income, many Filipinos chose to move to the United States in search of a better opportunity. Most of the immigrants were uneducated and lacked many of the skills needed to succeed in the American business industry. However, this case gave way to the opportunity for Filipino Americans to work on plantations and farms. The earliest immigrants worked on pineapple and sugar plantations in Hawaii and later found opportunities for farm work in California.

This pattern of uneducated Filipino Americans only lasted for a short time and was present in only the earliest of immigrants. The Filipino Americans are now some of the highest academic achieving minorities in the United States.

This immigration pattern still shows effect today with the vast majority of Filipino Americans located in either Hawaii or California. Many Filipino Americans are still performing similar tasks as their parents and grandparents did decades before them.

-Nathaniel Moore