Philippine Immigration in the USA after 1990

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The U.S. colonized the Philippines between 1900 and 1934. This had a significant impact on the mass immigration of the Filipinos. The Filipino immigrants were then made U.S. nationals and granted the opportunity of settling in the U.S. and protected by its law and constitution. The increase in demand for labor in California farmlands and Hawaiian plantation led to a surge of Filipino immigrants seeking these jobs (Abraham 14). They mostly came from the provinces of Cebu and Ilocos. The demand for labor in these farms was attributed to the exit of the Japanese work force from the plantations. The immigrants from Philippines mostly comprised of a subgroup known as Sakadas, who entered Hawaii as U.S. nationals. However, they did not enjoy full citizenship and were the first Filipino immigrants to be subjected to cultural oppression and racial discrimination (Abraham 44). It is observed that the Pinoys had the most gruesome experience of racial discrimination that occurred after the amendment of the immigration policies, oppressive farm management practice and anti-miscegenation laws (Chavez 38).

Various researchers have noted that the Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) policy facilitated undocumented immigration (Orrenius and Zavodny 448). Following the enactment of this law, there was a dramatic increase of illegal immigration even after the introduction of various traditions to curb this vice. The SCIRP notes that even though the pull and push factors are attributed to international migration, pull factors are more so as a result of mass immigration. This began in the 1980 due to the growth of the population worldwide (SCRIP 20). According to the GAO report, the level of discrimination rose after introduction of...

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...s more educated, there is a higher chance of them securing better paying jobs than their parents.

Works Cited

Abraham, Margaret. Speaking The Unspeakable. 1st ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000. Print.

Fujita-Rony, Dorothy B. American Workers, Colonial Power. 1st ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Print.

Gonzalez, Joaquin L. Filipino American Faith In Action. 1st ed. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Print.

Lee, Erika, and Judy Yung. Angel Island. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.

Lee, Shelley Sang-Hee. A New History Of Asian America. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

Martin, Philip. Immigration: Shaping And Reshaping America. 1st ed. Washington, DC: N. p., 2006. Print.

Orrenius, Pia M, and Madeline Zavodny. Beside The Golden Door. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 2010. Print.

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