The articles in this annotated bibliography describe the labor history of Filipino and US migration flows and the post-migration experiences of today’s Filipino immigrants. Filipino immigrants comprise a large portion of all Asian immigrants to the United States. In 2019, Pilipino migrants accounted for the third-largest country of origin in terms of immigrants with an estimated number of 2 million. The reasons why Filipinos migrate to the US can be found in the fact that historically, the Philippines and United States had a labor-based relationship, where the latter fills its labor gaps by employing the latter (Manalansan & Espiritu, 2016; Ortiga, 2018). Therefore, the pathways of immigration are well-established, and there are fewer barriers due to labor-based interests.
There are psychological and socioeconomic factors at play regarding the migration patterns of the group. The target group performs better than other immigrants due to more improved socioeconomic factors, where they are more likely to own a house (Gallardo & Batalova, 2020; Kim et al., 2012). Lastly, Filipino want to immigrate to the US because there are psychological elements, such as colonial mentality and voluntary immigrant narratives (David & Nadal, 2013). Thus, Filipinos migrate to the United States because they are needed in the American labor market, they are more likely to succeed financially, there are well-established pathways of migration, and historical and psychosocial factors facilitate immigration.
Manalansan, M. F., & Espiritu, A. (2016). Filipino studies: Palimpsests of nation and diaspora. NYU Press.
The first source is a comprehensive book on the historical causes and current state of Filipino migrants in the United States. The authors argue that Filipino is more inclined to immigrate to the US due to the neocolonial historical roots, which are manifested in the “labor brokerage” state of the Philippine state (Manalansan & Espiritu, 2016). In other words, historically, the United States and the Philippines have a long-lasting relationship, which is tied to the labor forces’ needs of the former, and thus, labor policies are designed to fill the labor gaps in the US. In 2019, the Philippines was the largest source of immigrants from South-Eastern Asian countries (Hanna & Batalova, 2021). The evidence is mostly focused on the historical relationship between the given two countries, which does not necessarily explain the current state of immigration, but it can be used as a foundational perspective on the general relationship between the Philippines and the United States. The sources can be useful to understand how the current policies formed and how they incentivized Filipino immigration, and therefore, it objectively demonstrates the fact that labor-based relations made Filipino people to be compelled to relocate to America. The book can greatly assist the selected topic of the project by illustrating how, for a long time, Filipinos have been aware that the United States has a certain interest in the Filipino workforce.
Ortiga, Y. Y. (2018). Learning to fill the labor niche: Filipino nursing graduates and the risk of the migration trap. Journal of the Social Sciences, 4(1), 172-187.
The article mainly focuses on the Filipino healthcare workers, such as nurses, and education-based as well as labor-based immigration to the United States. The source states that the growth of various educational programs, such as nursing programs, in the Philippines was facilitated by the fact that the United States and its healthcare institutions use overseas recruitments to overcome shortages in the workforce (Ortiga, 2018). The evidence does not primarily address the topic question of the project, but it provides an invaluable insight into how the Philippines exhibit interest in cooperating with the US to provide the necessary labor to the former. In other words, despite Filipino students being at constant risk of becoming unemployed or being unable to immigrate to the United States, they are still taking on risks due to the appeal of American jobs, such as nursing occupations. The risk is manifested in the notion that many Filipino students undergo educational programs suited to American standards, but if the immigration policies make entering the target workforce challenging, then they become trapped in the Philippines’ labor market, where they might not be needed. The author provides highly relevant and applicable arguments for the project because they explain the overall interconnectedness of American and Philippine workforces.
Gallardo, L. H., & Batalova, J. (2020). Filipino Immigrants in the United States. Migration Policy Institute.
The third source addresses and presents comprehensive Filipino immigration-related data based on an array of social and economic dimensions. It is stated that Filipino immigration to the United States has been steadily increasing since 1980 when 501000 people immigrated, and 2014000 did so in 2018 (Gallardo & Batalova, 2020). The source provides highly objective data without a clear indication of the potential causes. However, it can be used in the project to pinpoint critical data points, where they indicate that the majority of Filipino immigrants relocate because they do better than other minority groups. After all, in 2018, a median income of a Filipino immigrant-led household was $93000 (Gallardo & Batalova, 2020). Another source indicates that in 2019, migrants from the Philippines were only behind immigrants from India and Taiwan, whose household incomes were equal to $132,000 and $104,000, respectively (Hanna & Batalova, 2021). The presented data shows that there are several factors, which make the United States appealing to Filipino migrants, such as more likelihood of naturalization, better immigration pathways, less risk of poverty, and English proficiency (Gallardo & Batalova, 2020). The latter is supported by the fact that migrants from Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia were more likely to be English proficient compared to other parts of the region (Hanna & Batalova, 2021). In other words, these can be categorized as socioeconomic factors, which are built on the historic labor-based relationship between the Philippines and United States, and the state of affairs of already immigrated Filipinos. The source demonstrates that the majority of Filipino immigrants prosper in the US, and there are more channels for relocations, which all add to the development of incentives for their immigration.
Kim, J., Chatterjee, S., & Cho, S. H. (2012). Asset ownership of new Asian immigrants in the United States. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33(2), 215–226.
The fourth source is a study, which primarily focuses on the Asian immigrants, including Filipinos, asset ownership status. The findings indicate that there is a strong relationship between acculturation, demographic, and socioeconomic variables, homeownership, financial assets, and business ownership (Kim et al., 2012). It is important to note the fact that the article does not specifically focus on Filipino migrants, which is why some of the data presented are irrelevant to the topic of the project. However, the findings reveal that Filipino immigrants were more likely to become owners or own houses compared to other Asian migrants as well as minority groups. Such a statement can be considered a strong indicator that Filipino immigrants’ socioeconomic factors allow them to be financially prosperous since homeownership in the United States is an expensive endeavor. In other words, the article provides a major clue or evidence of how Filipino immigrants can be attracted to the United States, where the local diaspora leads a financially secure life. However, the source provides poor data on acculturation variables, which is why the given section of the research will not be utilized in the project.
David, E. J. R., & Nadal, K. L. (2013). The colonial context of Filipino American immigrants’ psychological experiences. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 19(3), 298-309.
The given source primarily focuses on the psychological and social experiences of a Filipino immigrant in the United States. The findings suggest that in a psychosocial context, the minority group experiences some form of denigration due to the historical colonial mentality and voluntary immigrant narrative (David & Nadal, 2013). In other words, the source provides an insight into how Filipino migrants are brought up and made appealed to the idea of immigration, which can either result in successful immigration and psychological acculturations or causes certain mental health consequences (David & Nadal, 2013). It is also partly influenced by the fact that a quarter of migrants are of non-working age or seniors (Hanna & Batalova, 2021). The article is mostly not useful to the project and has a lower degree of relevance, but it still illustrates how psychosocial factors contribute to the appeal of immigration for the target group.
In conclusion, Filipinos migrate to the United States because they are needed in the American labor market, they are more likely to succeed financially, there are well-established pathways of migration, and historical and psychosocial factors facilitate immigration. The evidence is derived from relatively objective and relevant sources, but some of them lack a direct focus on the subject.