Demographics of Filipino Americans
After World War II, and until 1965, migration of Filipinos to the United States was reduced limited to primarily military and medically connected immigration.
[36] The earliest recorded presence of Filipinos in what is now the United States is October 1587 when mariners under Spanish command landed in Morro Bay, California.
[38][40] These early settlements were composed of sailors compelled to serve in press gangs who had escaped from duty aboard Spanish galleons.
[43] Others came later from: Manila, Cavite, Ilocos, Camarines, Zamboanga, Zambales, Leyte, Samar, Antique, Bulacan, Bohol, Cagayan, and Surigao.
[66][67] Some sixteen thousand Filipinas entered the United States as war brides,[68] and a lone Filipino groom immigrated during this period.
[74] Beginning in 1948, due to the U.S. Education Exchange Act, Filipino nurses began to immigrate to the United States; 7,000 arrived that year.
[107] Filipino laborers tended to have better working conditions and earn more than their Mexican or Japanese counterparts;[108] in addition, they were described as "dandies and sharp dressers".
[112] In the late 1950s, Filipino Americans in California were concentrated around Stockton, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles with migrant laborers being a significant part of the population.
[88] Little Manila extended to the Bunker Hill and Civic Center areas of Los Angeles, but was forced to relocate to the Temple-Beverly Corridor in the 1950s and 1960s;[144][145] it has since been largely forgotten.
[167] Within the city of Los Angeles, Eagle Rock has over 6,000 Filipinos calling the neighborhood home;[168] additionally, as of 2000 the largest source of foreign-born individuals was the Philippines.
[171] Other significant concentrations of Filipino Americans in Los Angeles County are in Carson,[172][173] where "Larry Itliong Day" was dedicated,[174] Cerritos,[163][164][175] and Glendale.
[188] Other immigrants came through the U.S. Military, some through the Presidio of San Francisco, and others as migrant workers on their way to points inland; many of these Filipinos would settle down permanently in the Bay Area, establishing "Manilatown" on Kearny Street.
[191] The 2000 Census showed that the greater San Francisco Bay Area was home to approximately 320,000 residents of Filipino descent,[194] with the largest concentration living in Santa Clara County.
[199] In 2016, although the number of Filipinos living within the City of San Francisco has been reduced, a heritage district was designated "SoMa Pilipinas".
[205] Due to discriminatory housing policies of the time, the majority of Filipinos in San Diego lived downtown around Market Street,[119][206] then known as "Skid Row".
[207] Prior to World War II, due to anti-miscegenation laws, multi-racial marriages with Hispanic and Latino women were common, particularly with Mexicans.
[209] Many Filipino American veterans, after completing active duty, would move out of San Diego, to the suburbs of Chula Vista and National City.
[219] A portion of California State Route 54 in San Diego is officially named the "Filipino-American Highway", in recognition of the Filipino American community.
[123] Furthermore, Filipinos made up the third largest ethnicity among Asian Pacific Americans,[226] while making up the majority of the populations of Kauai and Maui counties.
[227] In June 2002, representatives from the Arroyo Administration and local leaders presided over the grand opening and dedication of the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.
[104] With the disbandment of the Philippine Scouts, many who remained in the military came to call Fort Sam Houston home, along with Filipina war brides.
[245] A significant population of these early Filipinos were migratory workers, working in the canneries in Puget Sound, and harvesting crops in Yakima Valley.
[267] The 2000 Census reported there were around 15,000 Filipino Americans living in the Jacksonville metropolitan area, though community leaders estimated the true number was closer to 25,000.
[274] In the 1960s, there were 3,587 Filipinos in Illinois, the population increased to 12,654 in 1970 and 43,889 in 1980, growing at a pace greater than the national average, and made up largely of professionals and their families.
[202] In 2012, a Census-estimated 235,222 single-race and multiracial Filipino Americans lived in the broader New York-Newark-Bridgeport, New York-New Jersey-Connecticut-Pennsylvania Combined Statistical Area.
[316] In Bergen County in particular, Bergenfield, along with Paramus, Hackensack,[320] New Milford, Dumont,[321] Fair Lawn, and Teaneck[322] have become growing hubs for Filipino Americans.
During the early 20th century, Alaska was the third-leading population center of Filipinos in the United States, after Hawaii and California; many worked seasonally in salmon canneries.
[404] According to a Pew Research Center survey published in July 2012, the majority of Filipino American respondents are Roman Catholic (65%), followed by Protestant (21%), unaffiliated (8%), and Buddhist (1%).
Studies show that young Filipino American men are not encouraged to pursue college unlike some East and South Asian groups and are stereotyped as "Lazy" "delinquents" "failures" and "gang-members".
[443][442] Due to the strong American influence in the Philippine education system, first generation Filipino immigrants are also at advantage in gaining professional licensure in the United States.
