AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS IN UNITED STATES BY: OLUWADARE ISOLA GEO 430

OVERVIEW: POPULATION OF AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS WHERE THIS IMMIGRANTS COME FROM LEGAL IMMIGRATION LOCATION OF AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS IN USA EDUCATION ATTAINMENT OF AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS Occupations of African Foreign-Born Workers REASON FOR EMIGRATION

Figure 1: African Foreign-Born Population in the U. S Figure 1: African Foreign-Born Population in the U.S., 2000 & 2010 The number of African immigrants in the United States grew from 881,300 in 2000 to 1.6 million in 2010 

According to Pew: “There were 1 According to Pew: “There were 1.8 million African immigrants living in the U.S. in 2013, up from 881,000 IN 2000 and a substantial increase from 1970, when the U.S. was home to only 80,000 foreign-born Africans. They accounted for 4.4% of the immigrant population in 2013, up from 0.8% in 1970”.

Although the growth of the African foreign-born over the past decade was rapid, this population still represents only 4 percent of the 40.8 million foreign-born and less than 1 percent of the 313.9 million residents of the United States. FIGURE 2:

As of 2010, 573,791 African immigrants came from Western Africa and 475,832 from Eastern Africa {Figure 5}

46. 1% of African immigrants were naturalized U. S 46.1% of African immigrants were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2013, compared to 43.7% of the foreign-born population as a whole FIGURE 3:

Figure 4: States With Largest African Foreign-Born Populations, 2010 The largest numbers of African immigrants are found in California, New York, Texas, Maryland, and Virginia. As of 2010, the largest African foreign-born populations were in California (158,953), New York (158,878), Texas (136,112), Maryland (125,470), and Virginia (89,290)

Just under one-fifth (16.1%) of African immigrants age 25 and older had a graduate degree (in addition to a bachelor’s degree) in 2010. In comparison, 10.4% of the U.S. population as a whole age 25 and over had a graduate degree in 2010 Nearly one-quarter (24.2%) of African immigrants age 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree only in 2010. In comparison, 17.7% of the U.S. population as a whole age 25 and over had a bachelor’s degree only in 2010

Figure 6: Educational Attainment of African Foreign-Born Population & Total U.S. Population, Age 25 & Over, 2010

37.7% of employed African immigrants age 16 and over worked in management, business, science, and arts occupations in 2010. One-quarter (24.8%) of employed African immigrants age 16 and over worked in service occupations in 2010, while one-fifth (19.8%) worked in sales and office occupations.

Figure 7: Occupations of African Foreign-Born Workers Age 16 & Over, 2010

REASONs FOR EMIGRATION  AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS often are not happy to leave home, but they emigrate to find employment opportunities commensurate with their education opportunities that are unavailable in their home countries. Inadequate education infrastructure Inadequate public good infrastructure

ASSIMILATION TO THE CULTURE IN US Foreign-born Blacks experience the most jarring change as they become part of the larger Black population in a racially divided America (Waters, 1991, 1994). For all immigrants, becoming American involves developing an understanding of racism, including its subtle nuances. Blackness in the United States may have a more negative meaning to people of African origin than it does in Haiti or Jamaica, where Blacks are not a racial minority and the racial hierarchy is more flexible than it is in the United States (Lindsey & Wilson, 1994; Vickerman, 1999)

AFRICAN IMMIGRANT YOUTH African immigrant youth often face many complex identity issues. In some circles, the authenticity of their African identity is questioned; in others, their American experiences are undervalued. Tope,1 a twenty-two-year-old 1.5- generation Nigerian

Racialization of Black Immigrants As Black immigrants who are both ethnically diverse and in the racial majority in their home countries, African immigrants become subjected to homogenizing views of Blackness in the United States (Bashi & McDaniel, 1997). In the U.S. system of racialization, in which race is the most salient identifier, their cultural differences are often overlooked, and they are expected to redefine their identities based on America’s racial categories

Conflicting Contexts of Socialization Concerns among immigrant parents about losing parental control and cultural influence over their children are well documented in the research literature (Forman, 2001; Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2001). In addition, Black immigrant parents may fear that their children will adopt U.S. African American youth culture, as their children’s peer groups in schools and neighborhoods often consist of African Americans

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Monica. “African Immigrant Population in U.S. Steadily Climbs.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 14 Feb. 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/14/african-immigrant-population-in-u-s-steadily-climbs/. Zong, Jie, et al. “Sub-Saharan African Immigrants in the United States.” Migrationpolicy.org, 3 Oct. 2018, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/sub-saharan-african-immigrants-united-states Simmons, Ann M. “African Immigrants Are More Educated than Most - Including People Born in U.S.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2018, www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-global-african-immigrants-explainer-20180112-story.html. Cohen, Herman J. “African Immigration Is America's Gain, Africa's Loss.” TheHill, 19 Jan. 2018, thehill.com/opinion/immigration/369498-african-immigration-is-americas-gain-africas-loss Invisible Sojourners: African Immigrant Diaspora in the  www.amazon.com/Invisible-Sojourners-African- Immigrant Diaspora/dp/027596759X Harvard educational review: Identity Constructions and Negotiations Among 1.5- and Second-Generation Nigerians: The Impact of Family, School, and Peer Contexts Harvard educational review: The Effects of Immigrant Generation and Ethnicity on Educational Attainment among Young African and Caribbean Blacks in the United States

8) “The Growing African Immigrant Population in the United States 8) “The Growing African Immigrant Population in the United States.” Immigration Impact, 4 Nov. 2015, immigrationimpact.com/2015/11/04/african-immigrants-united-states/. Mwangi, Chrystal A. George, and Shelvia English. “Being Black (and) Immigrant Students: When Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity Collide.” International Journal of Multicultural Education, vol. 19, no. 2, 2017, p. 100., doi:10.18251/ijme.v19i2.1317. US Census Bureau. “Out of Africa: Recent Growth of the African Foreign-Born Population.” Census Bureau QuickFacts, United States Census Bureau, 3 June 2016, www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random- samplings/2014/10/out-of-africa-recent-growth-of-the-african-foreign-born-population.html