Home to 8,537,673 people (U.S. Census Bureau), New York City, also known as the Big Apple, garners much attention for its eclectic culture and diverse population. International migration to New York City has become a phenomenon in the United States. After all, New York City is “an immigrant city” (Foner, 2001, p. 1). The Chinese, Dominicans, Jamaicans, Koreans, Mexicans, Soviet Jews, and West Africans are amongst the diverse list of immigrants in New York City (Foner, 2001, p. 2). Making up 12.4% of the total foreign-born population, also the largest foreign-born population in New York City, there are 380,160 Dominicans living New York City as of 2011 (Huffington Post, 2017). My essay will specifically focus on the Dominican immigrant population …show more content…
In the mid-1960’s, a large influx of Dominicans came into the United States, specifically New York City, after the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo’s assassination (Foner, 2001, p. 252). Because of the sudden influx of immigrants in NYC, the Dominican immigrant population encountered many socio-economic problems. These socio-economic problems stem from the disadvantages Dominican women experience in New York City from few job opportunities and low wages. Because many Dominican women are the head of their households, their disadvantaged lifestyle transcends into their home life. Politically, Dominicans are seen as “invisible immigrants” - overlooked in policies created because of their unlikeliness to become citizens (Foner, 2001, p. 257). In the late 1980’s, progressive changes for the Dominican community began to come into fruition (Foner, 2001). Dominicans were able to garner representation in the political sphere advocating for Dominican citizens and immigrants. Dominican immigrants have also found ways to connect their country of origin to the United States through political relationships. This is an example of transnationalism: “the processes by which immigrants “forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that …show more content…
Specifically, Dominican women tend to have higher levels of education than Dominican men (Gilbertson, 1995, p. 665) but still struggle with earning a living and supporting their family as single parents. The extent of single Dominican mothers is substantial: “40 percent of all Dominican households with children under the age of 18 in New York City are female-headed, and more than half (52 percent) of these are living below the poverty line” (Foner, 2001, p. 255). Also, Dominican women work largely in “ethnic-owned firms, such as nondurable manufacturing, retail trade, and restaurants” (Gilbertson, 1995, p. 658). Many of these ethnic enclaves actually marginalize the Dominican woman more than they help her mobility in
In the end, large scale immigration is nothing new for New York City and there has been a tradition of ethnic diversity. Far from being the center of conflict and drama, many West Indian people tend to be ignored- swelled and partly sheltered by the large native population among whom they live. Jamaicans feel as if being Jamaican in New York is very different than being American black. Jamaicans claim to see themselves as superior, more ambitious, harder workers and greater achievers than American
Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity. By David G Gutiérrez. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995).
This essay examines the life of Emi Calderon Chu who was born in Cuba and was the youngest of three children. Emi resided in an assisted living facility until she passed away Emi migrated to the United States at the ages of 24 in pursuit of better economic opportunities. The catalyst to her migration from Cuba was a result of political turmoil and economic hardship. Upon moving to American Emi resided in a close-knitted ethnic enclave.
When thinking of New York City, more often than not, the first things one visualizes is the beautiful skyline, the bright lights, and Times Square. But without a second glance, one might miss one of the important things about the city. New York is the most heavily Dominican populated city in the United States. It’s ironic that the first non-native American to migrate to and reside on what is today New York City, was from Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Throughout history, Dominicans have migrated to the US in search of economic opportunity. This is the factor that influences nearly every immigrant group that migrates to the US in history. In the early 1900s, The United States and the Dominican Republic had a very close diplomatic relationship, to the point where the President considered annexation. At one point, the United States completely controlled the Sugar industry, one of the country’s most profitable markets.
New York City's fastest growing immigrant group are Dominicans, a Spanish speaking people, flocking from the Dominican Republic to the United States, New York City in specific. In 1980 the Dominican population in NYC was 125,380, in 1990 it was 332,713, and today in 1999 it is an estimated 500,000 people. The only problem with this is through the years of their migration to America, their per capita income has declined precipitously. It seems as though when the Dominican population in America increases, their income as a whole decreases. Nearly half of the Dominicans in NYC live below the poverty level. In 1990 29% of Dominicans where on welfare. Of foreign people immigrating to the U.S., only people from the former Soviet Union had a higher percentage of people living on public assistance. From 1989 to 1996 their per capita income declined 23% to $6,094 a year, in inflation adjusted dollars, while their poverty rate rose from 37% to 46%, that is almost double for the city as a whole. Unemployment also rose from 17.2% in 1990 to 18.8% in 1996 (Lopez, p. 3). The source of these severe economic problems
The Dominican Republic (D.R.) has a deep-rooted history with the country of Haiti. This makes sense since they share the same Island. Yet, the culture, cuisine, and native languages are different and unique from one another. I was born in Haiti and spent a majority of my life living there until I immigrated to the United States with my parents. Although I have never been in the D.R. I have an interest in its history and people. As a female who has just entered the American marketplace as a worker I took particular interest in the role of women in the Dominican Republic workforce. In effect, I chose to explore the role of women in the labor force and how gender inequality affects their hiring prospects. Specifically, the unique challenges that affect Dominican women culturally that may prohibit them from entering the labor force. Additionally, systems of oppression that affect Dominican women 's opportunity for upward mobility. In exploration of these topics I used two academic research articles. First, “Social Context, Household Composition and Employment Among Migrant and Nonmigrant Dominican Women” by Douglas T. Gurak and Mary M. Kritz which explores how the household composition (among other things) of Dominican women affects their likelihood to be employed (Gurak & Kritz, 1996). Second, “Joining the Dark Side: Women in Management in the Dominican Republic”
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
I was born 23 years ago in the Dominican Republic, an island located in the Greater Antilles. There is a saying from my country that goes "Mi tiera mi corazon" meaning my country my love, which explain exactly how I felt about the Dominican Republic. To me the Island of Santo Domingo is the greatest in the World; there are beautiful people, gorgeous weather and all the mangoes I could have eaten. Then one day my parents gave me the bad news, they were moving to this place called New York, they told my brother and me that they would send for us later. That was 12 years ago and now here I am living in New York, the greatest city in the world, next to my Santo Domingo. When I was younger New York seemed as big as
Women's inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean is reflected in the discrimination they face in the workplace. Since the 1960s, the number of economically active women in the region has more than tripled. Though more than half of these
As the population of Latin America and the Caribbean raised in 1995 with a 190 percent increase (Gonzalez 199), the job markets in Mexico are becoming scarce and competitive. The living conditions of residents in provincial towns like in Cheran, “whose timber-based economy is in tatters” (Martinez 9) are greatly affected. Mexican immigrant workers are forced to cross the border and find a greener pasture in the United States, because “in 1994, Mexico was crippled by a profound-and-prolonged-economic crisis” (Martinez 8). With the huge influx of Mexican immigrant workers coming to the States in search for better jobs, the US citizens are concerned about the economic impact: jobs, government and public services. However, the Americans’ concern that the immigrants are draining the nation’s resources, is a sweeping statement, it is based on a myth. There are many recent studies that the immigrant’s population living in the United States helps the economy. Similarly, the Mexican government and immigrant families are grateful for their immigrant workers for lifting the ailing economy and the status of immigrant families. Immigrant workers, legal or illegal, are positively reshaping the economy of sending and receiving countries through these major myths.
The United States as a whole is seen as the land of opportunity. New York is a major central for diversity and because of that many people from different cultural atmospheres have brought their families and dreams to New York City. Although Immigration patters throughout the last 200 years have varied, New York has consistently seen people from around the world move to the city and call it home. From the earliest points in our history as a nation, New York has been a center for trade and economic growth. New York is known world wide as a cultural melting pot. While other states have had immigration surges, none have compared to the diversity and sheer number of immigrants that have made their way to the City. This paper will focus on
“Between 1961 and 1986 more than 400,000 people legally immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. More than 300,000 Dominicans lived in New York City by 1990, and the total was expected to reach 700,000 early in the millennium, making Dominican migration one of the largest to this country of the past forty years”.(117) The causes of the Dominican immigration
Finally, in 2007 after they were tired of appealing the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Dominican Central Electoral Council officially instructed its employees to deny citizenship documents to all children born to illegal immigrants, which they named Resolution 12. Just when you thought the Dominican Central Council could not be any more malicious and inhumane, they decided in 2010 to issue a constitutional reform, which eliminated birthright citizenship in the Dominican Republic. This would be first time in Dominican history where the nationality of children born in the country to undocumented immigrant parents would be denied. However, the Constitution of 2010 itself recognizes in Article 18.2 the nationality of people who were already considered Dominican nationals prior to 2010 so the Constitutional change applies only to those born after 2010. Fast-forward three years to September 23, 20013 the Dominican Constitutional Court, through resolution TC 0168/13 retroactively denied Dominican nationality to anyone born after 1929. This resolution argued that anyone who does not have at least one parent of Dominican blood, are considered undocumented immigrants which then labels them as “in transit.”. The Dominican Constitutional Court immediately ordered the review of the civil registry dating back to 1929. The Constitutional court stated
Cristina Henriquez’, The Book of Unknown Americans, folows the story of a family of immigants adjusting to their new life in the United States of America. The Rivera family finds themselves living within a comunity of other immigrants from all over South America also hoping to find a better life in a new country. This book explores the hardships and injustices each character faces while in their home country as well as withina foreign one, the United States. Themes of community, identity, globalization, and migration are prevalent throughout the book, but one that stood out most was belonging. In each chacters viewpoint, Henriquez explores their feelings of the yearning they have to belong in a community so different than the one that they are used to.
Miami is well known as a city where a lot of immigrants migrate to and continuously grow in numbers. The increase in the Hispanic population is usually due to family ties that influence other members to relocate to the city. Persuasion of a better life and opportunity for their children is what influenced my parents to move to Miami in the mid 1980’s. According to my parents the diversity in languages and cultural background made it