Filipino Immigration SW 680 Social Work Perspectives on Immigrants and Refugees

By: Wade Wolfe Patricia Kaleiwahea Michael Makekau

FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS

By the late 20th century, Filipinos became one of the fastest growing immigrant population in the United States. By the early 21st century, they constituted the 3rd largest Asian immigrant group in the United States.

 Established in 1895 Went to the Philippines to recruit Filipinos as cheap labor

Why Filipinos?
Cheaper Philippines was a U.S. colony Viewed as supplements to Japanese Agricultural country Illiterate and docile Hardworking and industrious

FILIPINO MIGRATION TO HAWAII SAKADAS

The Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association needed people for manual labor so they turned to the Philippines, where there was a large rural population. They recruited from two regions, the Visayas and Ilocos, looking for unskilled laborers to do 10 hours manual work a day in the plantation. In December of 1906, fifteen Filipino men arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii on the Doric. Eleven single and four married, all leaving behind their wives. The oldest was 56, and the youngest at 14. Five belonged to one family, headed by their father, Simplicio Gironella, and his four sons. The First Fifteen were sent to the Big Island of Hawaii, to Olaa Plantation, south of Hilo, and were assigned to live in the Japanese camp.

Timeline for Filipino Immigration in Hawaii

1906 The first 15 Filipino men arrive in Hawaii to work on sugar plantations (Sakadas) 1907 An additional 150 male Filipino workers arrived in Hawaii. 1916 More than 18,000 Filipino workers had immigrated to the Hawaiian Islands to work on sugar plantations. 1917 The U.S. went to war in 1917, and at that time many Filipino workers joined the U.S. Navy. 1934 The Tyding-McDuffie Act paved the way for the Philippines to become independent from the U.S. Also restricted a quota of 50 Filipino immigrants per year. 1945 3rd wave of Filipino immigrants to Hawaii, including workers, wives, and children. 1946 4th wave of Filipino workers arrived in Hawaii when 6000 plantation workers were recruited. Recruits had to pay their own passage but their wives and children traveled free. In order to qualify for free return, the laborers had to work at least 250 days during 3 consecutive years. Plantation-assisted migration

A total of 126,147 Filipinos came to Hawaii through the H.S.P.A. during four time periods between 1906 to 1946, mostly Ilocanos and Visayans all indentured to a three-year contract. Within a span of 37 years, these Filipino recruits or Sakadas are known to have planted the roots of Filipino experience in Hawaii.

Sakadas lived a life of segregation at work and on the plantations. They got the lowest jobs, and were held down as unskilled laborers for most of their lives in Hawaii. Maintaining a normal life was difficult with their wives and children back in the Philippines. Their main goal was to work hard, save money, and return home quickly to their families. The uneven men to women ratio created many social problems, including wife stealing and fighting over women. Gambling was also an issue with Filipinos, as they had hopes to win big.

Filipino Culture in Hawaii on BITV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YWy_gcxhtA

STRUGGLES OF THE FILIPINO IMMIGRANT

Filipino immigrants experienced economic oppression, superimposed poverty, overt racial bigotry, labor exploitation, social rejection, educational neglect, political disenfranchisement, societal denials, civil wrongs, and empty promises (Cordova, 30). Although they came as American Nationals, they did not have full rights like American citizens.

In Hawaii, the first-generation Filipino men, women, and children were treated as the lowest of the unskilled labor. Some Sakadas were beaten with sticks by lunas, or plantation work supervisors for not responding to their satisfaction. They were stereotyped as being oversexed, hot-blooded, and quick tempered. H.S.P.A. policies also discouraged bringing the wives and children of the men because they believed families on plantation wages would be costly. Moreover, higher education was not encouraged for plantation children.

A clear example of racist stereotyping of immigrant Filipinos to Hawaii are evident in the 1926 book Temperament and Race by psychologists Porteus and Babcock. Some of the data for the book came from twenty-five key informants or judges, all of whom were white, who provided social ratings of six major races in Hawaii, significantly not including whites perhaps because they were assumed to provide the normative psychological standard. With regard to Filipinos, Porteus and Babcock contended:

"Summing up these characteristics we may say that the Filipinos represent a fine example of a race in an adolescent stage of development. They exhibit all the signs of imbalance and temporary mal-adjustment that many adolescents show. The marks of their departure from the normal balance of maturity are to be seen in their egocentric attitude, in their rather obtrusive habits and desire for personal recognition, in their super-sensitiveness, love of display, and noisy self-expression . . . Obviously, these defects must interfere seriously with good judgment and a balanced and sane reaction to affairs in general."

Exporting People: A Filipino Developmental Model

Philippines Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) established in 1982 through Executive Order No. 797 The POEAs mission: is clearly articulated in its public relations publications:

POEA connects to the world, and, in partnership with all stakeholders, facilitates the generation and preservation of decent jobs for Filipino migrant workers, promotes their protection and advocates their smooth reintegration into Philippine society.
1. Through the POEA, the Philippines developed an institutional framework to facilitate the placement and processing of workers who desire employment abroad. 2. POEA provides information about the availability of workers and licenses Filipino employment agencies as partners. 3. Employment agencies interact with companies abroad for private sector jobs. 4. Public Sector, a special branch of the POEA focuses on placement in positions with foreign governments, most commonly in public hospitals or with state airlines. 5. The POEA was designed to be a one-stop shopping center for those desiring to work abroad in either the public or private sector.

EXPORTING PEOPLE
Overseas workers, with more than 8,579,000 million Filipinos living and working abroad (2012 Philippine population 103,775,002).

30% of all workers on seas cargo and in the cruise ship industries are Filipinos, a startling figure for a country that is home to less than 1.5% of the worlds population.
195 of the worlds 220 countries and territories hosts at least one OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) as of 2009.

THE REMITTANCES FLOW HOME

Remittances sent home by migrants to developing countries are three times the size of official development assistance and can have profound implications for development and human welfare. Remittances can contribute to lower poverty and to the building up of human and financial capital for the poor. Remittances to developing countries are estimated to have reached $372 billion in 2011, an increase of 12% over the previous year, according to figures contained in the latest issue of the World Banks Migration and Development Brief. The top recipients of officially recorded remittances in 2011 were India ($64 billion), China ($62 billion), Mexico ($24 billion), and the Philippines ($23 billion). Other large recipients included Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Lebanon. In 2009, through both formal and informal channels, remittances were estimated to be 16% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the Philippines.

THE REMITTANCES FLOW HOME (cont.)

Filipino bodies have been the countrys principal export since the 1970s and based on POEA practices, the country has become dependent on the export of its citizens and the inflow of remittances. Remittances have provided the Philippines with a margin that has allowed it to weather fluctuations in the economy. The general trend has been one of increased flows of remittances from Filipinos abroad, particularly during the first years of the 21st century.

As the country becomes increasingly dependent upon remittances to disguise its economic shortcomings, it grows ever more vulnerable to economic shocks beyond its shores.
Few economic downturns have been as deep, as multi-sectoral, or as global as the one that began in 2008, affecting the wealthier countries to which Filipinos emigrate. This has led to fears that large numbers of OFWs and those with resident status abroad will lose their jobs, forcing them to reduce the level of remittances they send home or eliminate them entirely.

Filipino Americans

Lowest poverty rate among Asian Americans; have a median household income that is higher than the White American population and that ranks as the second highest among Asian Americans; have the second highest English proficiency rate among all Asian Americans; and are the only Asian American ethnic group with a history of being colonized by the United States and are therefore highly familiar with American culture Furthermore, recent research suggests that many Filipino Americans may desire to replace Filipino cultural values with American cultural values because of colonial mentality, a form of internalized oppression characterized by a preference for anything American and rejection of anything Filipino.

Social Work Practice: The Filipino Population in Hawaii Implications and Considerations

Growing Filipino population Acculturation in Filipino immigrants Acculturation is a process of culture learning and behavioral adaptation that can take place when individuals are exposed to a new culture and is also described as a learning process because it usually involves a change in behavior. Several studies on ethnic immigrant populations have posited that acculturation influences health outcomes as they learned new behaviors. Cultural mistrust is related to lower likelihood of seeking professional psychological help. Cultural mistrust predicted variance in mental health help-seeking attitudes that are not accounted for by income, generational status, loss of face, and adherence to Asian cultural values.

Colonial mentality - consequence of historical and contemporary oppression

98% of Filipino Americans reported experiencing daily and lifetime racism

Characteristics grouped to obtain a clear picture of what comprises the concept of acculturation among Filipino immigrants.
The defining attributes are as follows:

Interactions between two cultures. A learning process that involves the acquisition of the English language and exposure to a culture different from ones own. A process involving changes in cultural beliefs, values, and practices to those of the new culture, while maintaining some of the values, beliefs, and practices from the original culture. Adaptation to a new socio-cultural context that involves adapting to the U.S. mainstream.

Dr. Fred Soriano Author, Sociologist, Pohaku Sculptor

References A Century of Challenge and Change: The Filipino American Story. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.filam.si.edu/curriculum/about-project.html. David, E. J. R. (2010). Cultural mistrust and mental health help-seeking attitudes among Filipino Americans. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1(1), 57-66. doi:10.1037/a0018814. Filipino Culture in Hawaii on BITV. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YWy_gcxhtA. McDermott, John F., Andrade, Naleen Naupaka.(2011). The Filipinos. People and Cultures of Hawaii, The Evolution of Culture and Ethnicity. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 201-219.

Okamura, Jonathan (2010). From Running Amok to Eating Dogs: A Century of Misrepresenting Filipino Americans in Hawaii. Ethnic and Racial Studies. Vol. 33, DOI:10.1080/01419870903055993.
Serafica, R. (2011). Concept Analysis of Acculturation in Filipino Immigrants Within Health Context. Nursing Forum, 46(3), 128-136. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2011.00231.x.

The Philippine History Site. (2011). Retrieved from http://opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu/filipino/filmig.html.

Wiley, J. E. (2012), Exporting People: A Filipino Development Model. Focus on Geography, 55: 1927. doi: 10.1111/j.1949-8535.2012.00040.