A Portrait of the Caribbean Immigrant in America: A Study in Contrast High Home Ownership Slightly Older Than Other Foreign-Born Groups But Suffers Pain of Employment
As a group they tend to be slightly older than other immigrant groups and they were more likely to become naturalized American citizens that the rest of the foreign-born population. And while two-third of them were bilingual they usually brought at least a high school education with them to the country. But, they didn’t quite match other immigrants when it came to tertiary education, almost 16 percent compared with 24 percent.
Just as important, almost half of them own their homes but when unemployment became a hard fact of life, they suffered more than the rest. That picture of Caribbean immigrants was sketched by the Migration Policy Institute, which explained that Caribbean born immigrants accounted for almost 10percent of the total foreign born in the U.S., according to figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Institute defined the Caribbean as countries that spanned the archipelago of islands and coastal states, including Antigua& Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica and the Dominican Republic to Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique Montserrat, the
Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts-Nevis. St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks & Caicos Islands. Noticeably absent from the list were Guyana, Suriname and Belize.
The largest proportion of Caribbean immigrants came from Cuba, 29.8%; the Dominican Republic 23,3%; Jamaica 18.8% and Haiti 14.2%; Trinidad and Tobago almost 7%; Barbados just under 2% and more than 5 % from the rest of the region.
That division of the community explains why two thirds of those born in the Caribbean but who live and work in the United States spoke a language other than English when they were at home. Topping the list were Spanish-speaking immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Cuba and French Creole-speaking Haitians. More than
90 percent of them spoke their native language at home.
The MPI analysis suggested that education was a key aspect of the Caribbean immigrant experience, with almost 62 percent having a high school education and about 16 percent possessing at least a bachelor’s
degree, compared with 24 percent of the overall foreign population.
Homeownership was also an important chapter in the Caribbean immigrant story.
Almost 46 percent of them owned their homes. That was in keeping with the almost 50 percent of other immigrants. Another thing: women made up more than half, 53.8 percent to be exact of the community and that was slightly higher than the foreign born population in general. Women from the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands accounted for more than 63 percent of the immigrants from those countries. That’s not
all. The analysis indicated that:
* A quarter if the islanders were in management, professional and related occupations, while almost 50 percent were in services, sales and office jobs. Overall 60 percent of them were working.
* About 50 percent were naturalized American citizens with Anguilla, BVI, Barbados and Cuba leading the group with at least 60 percent. An estimated 40 per cent of the total foreign born was naturalized.
* Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California were the top five states where Caribbean immigrants reside.
* In 2005, more than 108,000 Caribbean born persons became green card holders, accounting for 9.7 percent of all new lawful permanent residents in the U.S. in that year.
* People from the Caribbean were slightly older than the general immigrant population. The median age was 41 years as compared with 37.5 percent for the other immigrants.
Just as important, almost half of them own their homes but when unemployment became a hard fact of life, they suffered more than the rest. That picture of Caribbean immigrants was sketched by the Migration Policy Institute, which explained that Caribbean born immigrants accounted for almost 10percent of the total foreign born in the U.S., according to figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Institute defined the Caribbean as countries that spanned the archipelago of islands and coastal states, including Antigua& Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica and the Dominican Republic to Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique Montserrat, the
Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts-Nevis. St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks & Caicos Islands. Noticeably absent from the list were Guyana, Suriname and Belize.
The largest proportion of Caribbean immigrants came from Cuba, 29.8%; the Dominican Republic 23,3%; Jamaica 18.8% and Haiti 14.2%; Trinidad and Tobago almost 7%; Barbados just under 2% and more than 5 % from the rest of the region.
That division of the community explains why two thirds of those born in the Caribbean but who live and work in the United States spoke a language other than English when they were at home. Topping the list were Spanish-speaking immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Cuba and French Creole-speaking Haitians. More than
90 percent of them spoke their native language at home.
The MPI analysis suggested that education was a key aspect of the Caribbean immigrant experience, with almost 62 percent having a high school education and about 16 percent possessing at least a bachelor’s
degree, compared with 24 percent of the overall foreign population.
Homeownership was also an important chapter in the Caribbean immigrant story.
Almost 46 percent of them owned their homes. That was in keeping with the almost 50 percent of other immigrants. Another thing: women made up more than half, 53.8 percent to be exact of the community and that was slightly higher than the foreign born population in general. Women from the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands accounted for more than 63 percent of the immigrants from those countries. That’s not
all. The analysis indicated that:
* A quarter if the islanders were in management, professional and related occupations, while almost 50 percent were in services, sales and office jobs. Overall 60 percent of them were working.
* About 50 percent were naturalized American citizens with Anguilla, BVI, Barbados and Cuba leading the group with at least 60 percent. An estimated 40 per cent of the total foreign born was naturalized.
* Florida, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and California were the top five states where Caribbean immigrants reside.
* In 2005, more than 108,000 Caribbean born persons became green card holders, accounting for 9.7 percent of all new lawful permanent residents in the U.S. in that year.
* People from the Caribbean were slightly older than the general immigrant population. The median age was 41 years as compared with 37.5 percent for the other immigrants.
