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Number of Filipinos in the United States (1920-1931)
Since the United States acquired the Philippines in the Treaty of Paris, Filipino immigrants were legally U.S. nationals and were exempt from immigration legislation. Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan barred the entry of Chinese and Japanese laborers due to America’s “yellow peril”, employers turned to the Filipinos for cheap labor. Many Filipinos first immigrated to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. Filipino Farm Laborers in Hawaii (1906-1946)
Filipinos often migrated to Hawaii before making it to the mainland. Because the sugar harvest was so labor intensive and farmers wanted to cut labor costs, they hired laborers who would work for little pay. The constant flow of Filipinos to the Hawaiian islands made it easy for farmers to make a profit. By 1946, over 125,000 Filipinos had sailed to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations.4
Migration to the Mainland
Migration to the Mainland
93% of the Filipinos who came to California between 1920 and 1930 were males and 80% of those males were between 16 and 30 years of age. 70% of these younger Filipinos were unmarried. They came in hopes of a better life for their families back in the Philippines. However upon arrival, many of those hopes quickly dissipated.5
93% of the Filipinos who came to California between 1920 and 1930 were males and 80% of those males were between 16 and 30 years of age. 70% of these younger Filipinos were unmarried. They came in hopes of a better life for their families back in the Philippines. However upon arrival, many of those hopes quickly dissipated.5
Iree A. Cabreana, 1st Filipino
child to arrive in Santa Maria
from Hawaii, with father,
Tomas Abenido, 1925.
Courtesy of the Filipino
American Nat'l Historical
Society
Table from Oriental Immigration From an American Dependancy5
Section Contents
For Further Reading:
Boyd, Monica. "Oriental Immigration: The Experience of the Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino Populations in the United States." International Migration Review 5.1 (1971): 48-61. <http://www.jstor.org/pss/3002046>
4 Espiritu, Yen Li. "Colonial Opression, Labour Importation, and Group Formation: Filipinos in the United States." Ethnic and Racial Studies 19.1 (1996): 30-43. Print.
5 Generoso Pacificar Provido. "Oriental Immigration From an American Dependancy". San Francisco, 1975
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