Migration to the US Present by Michele Deng

Table of Content Introduction Significant immigration waves Size and Distribution Definitions History Demographic and Socioeconomic Overview Living standard Legal and Unauthorized Haitian Immigrant Population Reason for migration Employment Conditions Recent news Agencies

Introduction The United States is home to about 535,000 Haitian immigrants and made the largest concentration in any single country of Haitians abroad. As the country descended into chaos following the collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in the late 1980s, Haitians began arriving in the United States in large numbers and have provided a source of cheap labor.

Significant immigration wave The period of French colonization The Haitian revolution ( ) The United States occupation of Haiti ( ) The period of the Duvaliers ( ) The overthrow of President Aristide (1991).

Size and Distribution Definitions There were 534,969 foreign born from Haiti residing in the United States in About one of every 20 Haitians resides in the United States. More than 70 percent of the Haitian born resided in Florida and New York. Between 2000 and 2008, two states saw the size of their Haitian immigrant population grow by more than 10,000 people. More than three-quarters of Haitian immigrants resided in five metropolitan areas.

There were 534,969 foreign born from Haiti residing in the United States in 2008, making up 1.4 percent of all immigrants. The population has more than quintupled since 1980, when the decennial census counted 92,395 Haitian immigrants, and nearly 20-fold since 1970 when there were 28,026 Haitian-born in the United States.

Demographic and Socioeconomic Overview The top states of Haitian immigrant settlement are Florida (251,963; 46%), New York (135,836; 25%) New Jersey (43,316; 8%), Massachusetts (36,779; 7%), Georgia (13,287; 2%), and Maryland (11,266; 2%). Haitian immigrants (ages 25 to 65) 22 percent have not graduated from high school and 18 percent have a college degree. This compares to 9 percent and 30 percent, respectively, for native-born Americans Haitian immigrants were more likely than other immigrant groups to be naturalized US citizens. 48 percent are naturalized U.S. citizens; this compares to 43 percent for the overall foreign-born population. Nearly half of employed Haitian-born men worked in services or in construction, extraction, and transportation.

Legal and Unauthorized Haitian Immigrant Population There were about 230,000 Haitian lawful permanent residents (LPRs) in Based on the 2000 Census, the federal government estimated that there were 76,000 unauthorized Haitian immigrants living in the United States. Most Haitians who received LPR status in 2008 came to the United States as family-based immigrants. There are 75,000 to 125,000 illegal Haitian immigrants in the country. In 2000, the INS estimated there were 76,000 illegal Haitian immigrants In 2008, the United States deported 1,098 Haitian nationals.

Reason for migration Fleeing repressive dictatorships hardly mattered during years under "Papa" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier or when military dictatorships ran the country. Haitians emigrated in search of political asylum or permanent residence status in various countries such as the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, France, Dominican Republic, French Guyana, and Africa. Qualification of asylum: 1. be outside their country of origin; 2. be afraid of persecution; 3. be harmed or fear harm by their government or others; 4. fear persecution for at least one of the above cited reasons; and 5. pose no danger to others. Economic push-pull forces drive individuals out of developing countries where their labor has become redundant and at the same time pull them toward developed, industrialized countries where labor scarcities exist in undesirable, low-wage, labor-intensive jobs. Warn of potential and widespread lawlessness as well as outbreaks of disease, trigger an exodus of Haitians seeking refuge in nearby countries.

Employment condition Lowest paying, least desirable jobs. As farm workers, they have been exploited cruelly by the recruiters who promise them high wages and deliver little in return. Many have had to turn to migrant farm labor for subsistence wages. The company organizer can often keep workers in virtual slavery through debt to the commissary or threat of job termination.

Recent News The devastation caused last year by the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti led Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians in the United States at the time of the earthquake. The scale of current humanitarian crisis—estimated thousands of Haitians dead and reported total collapse of the infrastructure in the capital city of Port au Prince—resulted in this TPS announcement on January 15, US Immigration Service Grants Reprieve to Haitian Immigrants

Agencies Agencies within DHS(Department of homeland security) that are the leads in handling a potential mass migration include the: U.S. Coast Guard (interdiction) Customs and Border Protection (apprehensions and inspections) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (detention and removal); U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (credible fear determinations). DOJ’s EOIR( asylum and removal hearing)

Sources Monger, Randall and Nancy Rytina U.S. Legal Permanent Residents : US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. Rytina, Nancy Estimates of the Legal Permanent Resident Population in October US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics. US Census Bureau American Community Survey. Accessed from Steven Ruggles, Matthew Sobek, Trent Alexander, et al., Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 3.0. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Population Center, US Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Various tables. World Bank World Development Indicators. Washington, DC. US Immigration and Naturalization Service, Office of Policy and Planning. Nd. Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: 1990 to Washington, DC.

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