Indian Migration to the Global North in the Americas: The United States

Transcription

1 Chapter 1 Indian Migration to the Global North in the Americas: The United States The multicultural, multiracial and diverse character of North American society reflects the consequences of significant immigration flows over the centuries from different parts of the world. However, the underlying transformation of North American society, economy and polity did not happen overnight but evolved over the years through the dynamic socioeconomic and cultural adaptation processes. The continent of North America comprises the contemporary world s two largest immigration countries of the global North, the United States and Canada. The immigration into North America is, however, dominated by the United States, which is 5 6 times larger than that into Canada. This chapter focuses upon the size, trends and characteristics of migration from India into the United States. The United States is also known as a nation of immigrants. Handlin (1973: 3) perhaps realised this squarely when he said, Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that immigrants were American history. The Statue of Liberty is also an iconic symbol upholding the historical fact of America being the land of the free. The United States has been one of the most soughtafter destinations in the history of population movements and the same applies to the flows of Asian (as are called in the US census to differentiate them from the native Americans) especially after the 1970s. 1 In the early twentieth century, the size of the Indian population in the US was very small, increasing gradually to 1.7 million in 2000 (Figure 1.1A). Today, one of the largest Indian communities abroad in the world is found in the United States. In the US Census 2010, over 2.8 million people reported to be of Asian Indian race alone (Figure 1.1B). 1 Earlier, the term Red was used for Native Americans, which was subsequently considered derogatory and therefore discontinued in official parlance. Indian immigration to the US dates back to the nineteenth century, when their entry into the US was mainly characterized by laissez-faire, i.e., without restrictions. Gradually, beginning in the early twentieth century, (generally referred to as Hindoos or Hindus ) also came into the fold of the Asian exclusion policy of US immigration that was already in place against the Chinese and other Asians. The discriminatory attitude behind these restrictions was starkly evident in the derogatory insinuation made by the President of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers in 1908: Sixty years contact with the Chinese, twenty-five years experience with the Japanese, and two or three years acquaintance with Hindus should be sufficient to convince any ordinarily intelligent person that they have no standard.... (as cited in Lal 2006: 314). The restrictive immigration policy allowed only small numbers of to enter into the US in the early decades of the twentieth century. These early arrivals of mostly comprised labourers working on farms and railroad construction in the west coast, who gradually entered the US society and started settling there (Khadria 1999: 57). These flows of to the United States, like those to Canada even earlier, were dominated by the Sikhs of the Punjab region. The early Indian arrivals in the US also included a small number of students, some of them important enough to give leadership to organizations working against the British rule in India. 2 In fact, the formation of the Ghadar Party in the US by the fugitive dissenters escaping the British rule in India attracted many students, cutting across religious boundaries between Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Ironically, many decades later, after more than half a century of India s 2 Among these students were the son of the Maharaja of Baroda, at Harvard, and the son of Rabindranath Tagore, at Illinois. Tagore had himself visited the US and had praised America for its international leadership (Jensen 1988, cited in Khadria 1999: 57).

2 2 India Migration Report ,022,552 Number of -by-race in US 361, , Census years 1,645,510 Figure 1.1A: Indian Population in the US by Race, Source: US Census Bureau, various years ( ) Number of India-borns in US 12,296 51, , , Figure 1.2: Indian (by Country of Birth) Population in the US, Source: US Census Bureau, various years ( ) Indian alone or in combination with any other race 3,183,063 Indian alone or in combination with one or more other Asian race 2,918,807 Figure 1.1B: Indian Population in the US by Race as Reported in US Census 2010 Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 Census Indian alone 2,843,391 independence in 1947, the twenty-first century has actually seen Indian students leading the world flow of foreign students in the United States. 3 So far as Indian migration to the US is concerned, the modern era could be said to have begun after the amendments were made to the US Immigration Act of 1952 in The predominance of Asian, in the new waves of immigrants in the United States has been widely documented in the literature (e.g., Khadria 1999, 2000, 2004; Wong and Hirschman 1980). These Indian arrivals in the US comprised professionals like doctors, engineers, IT workers, etc., and significant numbers of tertiary level students. It is this stock of highly skilled which added to the 3 In the 1950s and 1960s, the space race between the US and the then USSR had triggered the migration of engineers and scientists for engagement with NASA in the US. Subsequently, from the 1970s onwards, there has been a massive exodus of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) graduates to the US (Khadria 1997). growth of the US economy through the accumulation of human capital. 1.1 Stock-trends of Indian Immigrants in the US From the decennial censuses of the US, Indian immigrants can be identified in two ways (i) people who have reported their race as Asian and (ii) people whose place of birth is in India. According to the US Census of 2000 (the next Census is that of 2010 but the data are not yet fully available), the United States comprised 31 million foreign-born individuals, constituting 11 per cent of its total population. The stock of India-born in the US was one million in 2000 (Figure 1.2). Since 1960 this stock has increased rapidly, and had more than doubled in the decade of the 1990s. While counting by race, on the other hand, numbered far more than this. Almost 1.7 million people reported their race as Asian Indian in the US Census of 2000 (Figures 1.1 A and 1.1B, and Annexure 1.1.

3 Indian Migration to the Global North in the Americas: The United States 3 Annexures 1.2 to 1.7 provide the US DHS counts of as Legal Permanent Residents and Naturalized US Citizens for subsequent years till 2010). 1.2 in Relation to Asian and Total Population in the US The US Census 2000 showed that the population of the United States was million as on 1 April Out of the total, 10.2 million people, or 3.6 per cent, reported themselves to be Asians. Among the Asians, numbered 1.7 million (16.2 per cent of Asians); occupying the third largest position among the Asian groups in the US, following the Chinese and the Filipinos (Figure 1.3) Nativity and Citizenship Status In 2000, among all Asians in the United States, about 31 per cent were native-born, compared with nearly 90 per cent native-born in the total population. The majority of (45.8 per cent) living in the US were foreign-born (outside of the US) and were not US citizens. The citizenship count was a little higher for all Asians than that for. Only 29.6 per cent of were naturalized citizens whereas 34.4 per cent of Asians were naturalized citizens of the US (Figure 1.4) Year of Entry A higher proportion (76 per cent) of the foreign-born Asian population than the total foreign-born population (70 per cent) came to the United States over the two decades between 1980 and Only 24 per cent of the foreign-born Asian population entered the US before Comparatively, are the newer foreign-born group among Asia-borns in the US. Most of the India-borns (more than half) had come to the US during 1990 to 2000 (see Figure 1.5) Age Sex Distribution The male female ratio was far higher for in comparison with other Asian groups and the total population in general. The proportion of working age population (18 64) was slightly higher for than the other groups (Figure 1.6 and 1.7) Occupational Category About 45 per cent of Asians were employed in management, professional and related occupations compared with 34 per cent of the total population. In percentage terms, there were more (60 per cent) in the management professions than in the total population of the US as well as the Asian population. were found less in the services sector only seven per cent (Figure 1.8). Population in million Figure 1.3: Indian, Asian and Total Population in the US, Educational Attainment Considering the schooling of the population aged 25 or older, educational attainment of at least high school level Figure 1.4: Percentage Distribution of Population in the US by Nativity and Citizenship Status, 2000 Foreign-born non-us citizen Foreign-born naturalized US citizen Native-born

4 4 India Migration Report Figure 1.5: Percentage Distribution of Foreignborn Persons in the US by Year of Entry, to to Before Male Female Figure 1.6: Percentage Distribution of Population in the US by Sex, 2000 Source: US Census Bureau (2000) Under & over Figure 1.7: Percentage Distribution by Broad Age Groups, 2000 Source: US Census Bureau (2000) All workers Asian Figure 1.8: Percentage Distribution of Employed Civilian Population (aged 16 years and above) by Occupational Category, 2000 Indian Production and transportation Farming, fishing and forestry Service Construction and maintenance Sales and office Management, professional and related 59.9

5 Indian Migration to the Global North in the Americas: The United States Less than high school graduate High school graduate Some college or associate's degree Bachelor's degree or more Figure 1.9: Per cent Distribution of Population in the US (25 years and older) by Educational Attainment, 2000 was approximately 80 per cent for all Asians, whereas for it was 87 per cent. In other words, whereas 20 per cent of the total population as well as had educational attainment of less than high school, for this proportion was only 13 per cent. The proportion of 64 per cent Bachelor degree holders among the was the highest compared with each of the other groups (Figure 1.9) Use of English Language at Home Of the 9.5 million Asians aged 5 years and over, 79 per cent spoke a language other than English at home and about 40 per cent spoke English less than very well. The proportion of speaking only English at home was 19.3 per cent and those speaking English not very well was 23.1 per cent. Seventy-seven per cent of were proficient in the English language, while for all Asians, including, this was as low as 60 per cent only (Figure 1.10) Only English at home Non-English at home, English spoken 'very well' 57.6 Non-English at home, English spoken less than 'very well' Figure 1.10: Language Spoken at Home and English Speaking Ability (aged 5 and older) in the US by Class of Admission US Immigration law defines immigrants as persons lawfully admitted to become permanent residents in the United States. Aliens (i.e., foreigners) willing to become permanent residents may follow one of the two paths depending on their residence at the time of application: (i) Those acquiring an immigrant visa while living abroad and approved for admission at the port of entry are eligible for lawful permanent residence (LPR) status; (ii) Aliens already living in the United States, including those who had come on a non-immigrant visa (as visitors or temporary residents), certain undocumented immigrants, temporary workers, foreign students, refugees, etc., can file applications for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence (US Department of Homeland Security 2009). The US Immigration and Nationality Act permits lawful permanent resident status under several categories. They are as follows: 1. Immediate relatives of US citizens Spouse. Dependent child(ren) under age 21. Parents. 2. Family preference categories Unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens and their children. Spouses, children, and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents. Married sons and daughters of US citizens. Brothers and sisters of US citizens (at least 21 years of age). 3. Employment-based preference categories 4. Diversity visa recipients 5. People who adjust their status from a temporary class of admission, such as refugee, asylee, or parolee. 4 4 Persons admitted to the US with refugee visas or given asylee status (both these visas are non-immigrant temporary visas) on humanitarian grounds may adjust to legal permanent residence after residing in the US for one year.

6 6 India Migration Report Table 1.1: Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status in the US by Broad Class of Admission and Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal Year 2009 Region and Country of Birth Total Familysponsored Preferences Employmentbased Preferences Immediate Relatives of US Citizens Diversity Refugees and Asylees Other Total 113, , , ,554 47, ,368 14,124 Africa 127,050 5,450 5,707 45,823 24,122 45, Asia 413,312 81,218 78, ,366 13,536 69,561 1,750 Europe 105,398 4,393 23,529 55,844 8,737 10,453 2,442 North America 375, ,602 19, , ,700 8,841 Oceania 5, ,075 3, South America 102,878 13,665 14,856 64, , Unknown 1, India 57,304 12,911 20,264 21, , (For updated data on this, please refer to Annexure 1.4) Table 1.2: Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status in the US by Broad Class of Admission and Region and Country of Last Residence: Fiscal Year 2009 Region and Country of Last Residence Total Familysponsored Preferences Employmentbased Preferences Immediate Relatives of US Citizens Diversity Refugees and Asylees Other Total 113, , , ,554 47, ,368 14,124 Africa 122,804 5,253 4,671 44,800 23,303 44, Asia 394,874 79,358 73, ,344 13,371 60,536 1,501 Europe 114,992 5,179 23,377 56,845 9,179 18,034 2,378 North America 378, ,579 22, , ,244 7,701 Oceania 6, ,291 3, South America 101,359 13,435 13,890 64, , Unknown 12, ,250 2, ,031 1,729 India 54,360 12,204 18,881 20, , (For updated data on this, please refer to Annexure 1.5) The individuals who meet any of the eligibility criteria mentioned above, set forth for the various immigration categories, are called principals. Visas are also given to the spouses and minor children of principals in certain categories of immigrant admissions for accompanying, or following to join the principals. Tables 1.1 and 1.2 present the distribution of immigrants from India and from all the continents of the world obtaining Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status in the US in 2009, by birth and place of last residence. It is evident that among all classes of admission, obtaining LPR status were the highest in number under the category of immediate relatives of US citizens, closely followed by those in the employmentbased preferences and the family sponsored preferences. This is true for all, whether defined according to the country of birth or country of last residence. Figure 1.11 Immediate relatives of US citizens; 21,532 Employmentbased preferences; 20,264 Diversity; 63 Refugees and asylees; 2,228 Other; 306 Figure 1.11 India-born Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status in the US by Broad Class of Admission, 2009 Source: US Department of Homeland Security (2009) Familysponsored preferences; 12,911

7 Indian Migration to the Global North in the Americas: The United States 7 Table 1.3: Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status in the US by Last Residence in India, Asia and the World, Fiscal Years Period Region and Country of Last Residence World Asia India India s share in world (%) India s share in Asia (%) , , ,427, ,814,554 36, ,081,261 54, ,742, , ,248,568 71, ,694,294 61, ,202, ,836 3, ,347, ,736 3, ,295, ,740 2, ,375 19, ,608 34,532 1, ,499, ,844 1, ,213, ,605 18, ,248,203 1,406, , ,244,379 2,391, , ,775,398 2,859, , ,299,430 3,470, , Note: Data for years prior to 1906 refer to country of origin by birth; data from refer to country of last residence presents the distribution of various classes of admission for the year 2009 (For 2010, see Annexures 1.4 to 1.6). 1.4 Indian Legal Permanent Residents in the US Table 1.3 presents the number of persons obtaining LPR status in the US whose last residences were in India, in Asia, and the world. The number of obtaining legal resident status in the US has increased over the years. India s share in the total number of people getting LPR status was below 1 per cent till the 1970s. It increased significantly thereafter recording 3.5 per cent of the world total during , 3.7 per cent during , 3.6 per cent in and 5.7 per cent during However, among Asians, the share of had been high during , which then declined after the 1850s. The recent increase could be attributed to the much debated brain-drain phenomenon of high-skill migration, what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had termed as the reverse transfer of technology (UNCTAD ). The numbers of persons hailing from India, Asia and the world, obtaining legal permanent resident status in the US between 2000 and 2010 are presented in Table 1.4 and Figure India s share during this period fluctuated between 4.6 and 7.1 per cent. The year which recorded the highest number of obtaining LPR status during this period was The year 2003 had seen a steep decline, from the previous two years, in the number of people from the world as a whole obtaining LPR status in the US. This is true for Asia as a whole and for India too. One could speculate that this decline was a result of the stringent entry barriers erected in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US. Two examples of such barriers are the enactments of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USAPATRIOT) Act of 2001, and the Enhanced

8 8 India Migration Report Table 1.4: Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status in the US, by Last Residence in India, Asia and the World, Fiscal Years Year Region and Country of Last Residence World Asia India India s Share in World (%) India s Share in Asia (%) , ,107 38, ,058, ,056 65, ,059, ,874 66, , ,699 47, , ,362 65, ,122, ,977 79, ,266, ,084 58, ,052, ,903 55, ,107, ,899 59, ,130, ,874 54, ,042, ,209 66, Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act (EBSVERA) of In sharp contrast to Asia and the world, the table shows a noticeable decrease in the number of people from India obtaining LPR status in the US in the year One reason to which this decline could be attributed might be the rise of India in terms of its economic growth and appearance on the global scene. The 2009 decline could, on the other hand, be attributed to the economic crisis that started in the US in In contrast, the sharp rise in 2010 could be read as caused by the expectation of recession hitting India too with a lag effect Geographical Distribution of Indian LPRs in the US Table 1.5 shows that since 2003, the states of California, New Jersey, Texas, New York and Illinois have been the top 5 destinations of India-born legal permanent residents. Till 2010, most of the have been found obtaining LPR status in California, the state having the highest population among all the states and territories of the US, and the third largest land area. The next highest ranking state where obtained LPR status in 2009 is New Jersey (Figure 1.13) Occupational Profile of Indian LPRs in the US The occupational distribution of India-born immigrants in the US, who obtained LPR in 2009, shows that they were mostly in management, professional and related occupations (Figure 1.14), comprising 43 per cent of all occupations. The sales and office occupations and farming, fishing and forestry occupations constitute the next highest percentages (6.7 and 6.4 respectively) of Indian immigrants. A significant number of Indian immigrants were in the others category. Most of these were homemakers and students. However, a significant number of them were unemployed, although in the labour force. Number of Indian immigrants 90,000 80,000 70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10, Year of obtaining LPR status By Last residence By Birth Figure 1.12: Indian Immigrants Obtaining LPR Status in the US: Fiscal Years

9 Indian Migration to the Global North in the Americas: The United States 9 Table 1.5: India-born Immigrants Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status in the US by State or Territory of Residence, Year of Obtaining Legal Permanent Residence State/Territories of the US California 9,508 16,703 14,724 14,110 12,820 14,112 12,826 15,099 New Jersey 7,442 7,786 9,624 6,491 7,477 8,083 7,080 8,123 Texas 2,770 5,887 7,139 4,131 4,681 4,811 4,716 5,777 New York 4,138 4,872 6,693 6,691 5,371 5,561 4,410 5,116 Illinois 4,536 5,450 5,978 4,479 5,096 4,114 3,946 4,845 Pennsylvania 1,964 2,277 3,362 2,111 2,465 2,272 2,142 2,613 Virginia 2,036 2,269 2,776 1,799 2,387 2,561 1,944 2,510 Georgia 1,023 2,043 3,671 2,433 2,850 2,085 1,856 2,436 Florida 1,219 2,534 3,714 3,183 2,828 1,785 1,675 2,067 Washington 1,231 1,172 1,747 1,441 1,544 1,813 1,670 2,019 Massachusetts 1,463 2,569 3,100 1,520 1,681 1,787 1,666 1,957 Maryland 1,339 1,571 1,785 1,533 1,617 1,642 1,518 1,750 Michigan 1,864 2,507 3,595 1,526 2,173 1,741 1,294 1,697 Ohio 1,743 1,561 1,984 1,090 1,307 1,169 1,101 1,418 North Carolina 868 1,291 1,774 1,128 1,469 1,002 1,026 1,370 Connecticut 722 1,104 1, , ,007 Others 6,362 8,520 11,444 6,797 8,414 7,918 7,568 9,358 California 12,826 New Jersey 7,080 Texas New York Illinois 4,716 4,410 3,946 Pennsylvania Virginia Georgia Florida Washington Massachusetts Maryland Michigan Ohio North Carolina Others 3,142 1,944 1,856 1,675 1,670 1,666 1,518 1,294 1,101 1,026 8,434 Number of India-born immigrants obtaining LPR ststus in 2009 Figure 1.13: India-born Immigrants Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status by State or Territory of Residence in the US, 2009 Source: US Department of Homeland Security (2009) (See Table 1.5)

10 10 India Migration Report Sales and office; 6.7% Service occupations; 3.8% Farming, fishing and forestry; 6.4% Production, transportation and material moving; 2.2% Management, professional and related; 43.1% Others; 37.9% Figure 1.14: Occupational Distribution of Indiaborn Immigrants in the US Obtaining LPR Status, 2009 Source: US Department of Homeland Security, various years Tables 1.6 and 1.7 present the trends in the occupational profile of the Indian permanent residents for and , respectively. After 2005, there has been a change in the categorization of occupational groups as published in the yearbooks of immigration statistics by the US Department of Homeland Security. Over the years, there has not been much change in the occupational profile of India-born permanent residents in the US. Between years 2003 and 2005 (Table 1.6), most of them were found in the professional and technical occupations, and between years 2006 and 2010 (Table 1.7), in management, professional and related occupations. However, more than double the number of them were reported in the no occupation/not working outside home category, for which a new classification has been released by the Department of Homeland Security for the later years (i.e., ). Most of them were identified as either home-makers or children and students, or retirees. Those considered truly unemployed, apparently Table 1.6: Occupational Distribution of India-born Immigrants in the US Obtaining LPR Status, Occupational categories Executive and managerial 2,341 3,190 4,395 Professional and technical 10,211 18,101 19,531 Sales 983 1,102 1,585 Administrative support Farming, forestry, fisheries 1,607 1,577 2,036 Operators, fabricators, labourers Precision production, craft, repair 242 NA 330 Service 1,047 1,078 1,535 Military NA 4 No occupation 24,957 31,841 39,463 Unknown 7,894 11,854 14,298 Note: NA Data not available Table 1.7: Occupational Distribution of India-born Immigrants in the US Obtaining LPR Status, Occupational Categories Management, professional, and related occupations 11,638 15,103 15,682 12,815 17,545 Service occupations 1,897 1,620 1,374 1,132 1,200 Sales and office occupations 3,142 2,391 2,231 1,980 1,950 Farming, fishing and forestry occupations 2,208 2,129 1,932 1,896 2,142 Construction, extraction, maintenance and repair occupations NA 64 NA NA 54 Production, transportation and material moving occupations 1, Military NA NA NA 3 No occupation/not working outside home, of which: {31,606} {32,523} {30,144} {27,555} {31,721} Homemakers 13,233 14,705 13,697 12,558 14,415 Students or children 13,346 13,288 11,789 10,060 11,634 Retirees ,004 Unemployed 4,386 3,845 3,894 4,116 4,668 Unknown 9,433 10,863 11,038 11,215 14,115 Note: NA: Not available