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A 'Colombian American' is an immigrant from Colombia to the United States.
Economic problems and violence have led to an emigration of Colombians to the U.S., particularly South Florida (especially Miami, Doral, Kendall and Hialeah), New Jersey (North Jersey), Queens County in New York City, the Washington DC metro area, and eastern Long Island. Jackson Heights in Queens County was heavily Colombian during the 80's, but other immigrant groups have settled in the area, mostly Mexicans. Colombians are among the largest South American immigrant groups to the U.S. Like other South American immigrants and unlike Central American and Caribbean Latino immigrants, Colombians tend to come from urban areas.
Ethnically, Colombians are a diverse population including Native American-Colombians, Spanish-Colombians and Afro-Colombians. However, the majority are a mix of all three ethnicities, or are Mestizos or Mulatos. The main musical interests are vallenato, salsa and cumbia. The vast majority of Colombians are Roman Catholic; younger Colombians are significantly more secular than the older generation.
Colombian food is highly varied. Popular dishes are ''bandeja paisa'', ''sancocho'' (stew), ''empanadas'' (meat-filled turnovers), and ''pandebono'' (a type of cheese-bread). Colombian food is popular and well-known in Queens County.
Their main pastime is soccer, but Colombian Americans raised in the U.S., like most children of immigrant groups, tend to seek out American sports. Another popular pastime, especially among the older generation, is Parcheesi (known as 'parqués').
The largest Colombian American community lives in the South Florida area (Miami, Doral, Kendall, and Hialeah) with a population of 138,768.^[2]

Contents

Immigration

See also

References

Immigration

The first Colombian immigrants were probably among the few South Americans who settled in the United States during the nineteenth century (the federal census did not specify the country of origin for South Americans until 1960). Little is known about these settlers, who maintained no ties with their native countries and within a few generations identified themselves only as Americans. The first Colombian community formed when several hundred professionals, including nurses, accountants, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, and bilingual secretaries, moved to New York City after World War I; the population was later augmented by students who stayed on after earning their degrees. Most immigrants made their homes in Jackson Heights, a middle-class neighborhood in Queens, attractive for its proximity to employment in Manhattan and for its churches, comfortable houses, and fine schools. Known by residents as "El Chapinerito" (after Chapinero, a middle-class suburb of Bogotá), the neighborhood did not grow much until the 1940s, when New York City and Venezuela surpassed Panama in popularity as destinations among Colombian emigrants.
The number of Colombians entering the United States each year increased only slightly until the early 1950s, when it rose from a few hundred to more than a thousand, owing in part to upheaval associated with the decade of violence after 1948. Nor did the rate decline with the restoration of civil order in Colombia. As a result of land reforms and the introduction of agricultural machinery during the 1960s, the population became concentrated in the metropolitan areas and a deep economic recession set in, forcing many Colombian Americans to leave the country in search of work. The number that settled in the United States continued to grow rapidly: according to the annual reports of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 116,444 Colombians entered the country between 1960 and 1977, the first large influx driven by purely economic reasons. These immigrants were far more racially and economically diverse than their predecessors, and with their admittance, skilled and semiskilled laborers gradually displaced professionals as the majority.
In the postwar years, Colombian Americans were among the national groups at the center of a political debate about immigration that reached a peak when immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America outnumbered those from Europe. Calls for stricter controls culminated in the Immigration Act of 1965, the first legislation to place a limit on the western hemisphere, for which only 120,000 visas were to be reserved annually. The law also sought to bar entry to all but the most needed and highly qualified workers, including professionals, technicians, and domestic servants. These measures presented a host of obstacles for Colombian Americans. The quota was so small relative to demand that families could wait 20 months for permission to be reunited. Pressure on the allotted visas was further exacerbated by unemployment and underemployment in Colombia, which escalated to between 20 and 25 percent by the mid-1970s. Patterns of settlement changed as a result of these conditions. In part because they had little hope of establishing legal residency, most Colombians who arrived after the mid 1960s planned to stay in the United States only temporarily. As a result, the rate of undocumented immigration soared: estimates of those living in the country without permanent residency status ranged from 250,000 to 350,000 in the mid 1970s. Discouraged by the law, some immigrants settled in Ecuador, which in 1973 had a Colombian population of 60,000.
Despite a succession of stringent immigration laws, the Colombian population in the United States continued to grow. New York remained the most popular destination. While those who could afford to do so moved to Jackson Heights, other Colombian neighborhoods took shape in nearby Corona, Elmhurst, Woodside, Rego Park, and Flushing. Smaller communities formed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and Washington, D.C. During the 1970s, an enclave of a few thousand professionals developed on the North Side of Chicago. After the late 1970s, many Colombians chose to settle in South Florida and Miami, which they found attractive for its climate, growing economy, and tradition of tolerance dating from the establishment of a Cuban community there. Initially they took up residence in Little Havana, the largest Cuban neighborhood, and many engaged in business related to the brisk trade between Miami and Latin America; a few worked in factories or as domestic servants. The area also became a haven for the wealthy, who moved there to receive medical care, send their children to school, and escape from social, economic, and political turmoil in Colombia. By 1987 Colombian Americans were one of the fastest-growing Latin American groups in South Florida.
By the early 1990s, overcrowding, crime, and the high cost of urban living led Colombian Americans to leave metropolitan centers for the suburbs. This trend was perhaps first noticed in the coastal towns of Connecticut and New York, where, since the 1980s, many Colombian Americans and other Latin Americans have taken jobs in service industries left unfilled by the local population. A better choice of housing, which was much more affordable in these towns than in New York City, was also available. One of the fastest-growing communities developed in Stamford, Connecticut, which in the mid-1990s had a Colombian population of more than 7,000. Enclaves in northern New Jersey also grew during these years, including those in Bergenline, a town dominated by immigrants and entrepreneurs, and in Englewood. Jacksonville and such suburbs as Kendall, Florida, attracted a growing number from Miami, and Skokie, Evanston, Arlington Heights, and Park Ridge, Illinois, became fashionable alternatives to the North Side of Chicago. The largest concentrations nonetheless remained in New York City, Miami, and their environs: in 1994 there were 86,000 Colombian Americans in New York City (mainly in Queens), 56,000 in northern New Jersey, and 138,768 primarily in the South Florida area (84,000 in Miami-Dade County, Florida alone.)
With other immigrants from developing countries, Colombian Americans have faced serious obstacles to achieving success in the United States in the 1990s. As American society became more technologically advanced, much of the work traditionally performed by immigrants disappeared, leaving only dangerous, undesirable, poorly paid positions that offered no health care benefits and little promise for the future. Language was a definitive barrier against advancement, as most Colombian Americans lacked proficiency in English and the opportunity to gain it. Those living in cities often inherited abandoned neighborhoods, substandard schools, and a crumbling infrastructure. Perhaps the most pressing issue was the rising tide of hostility toward immigrants, especially Latin Americans and Asians, that swept the country on the heels of the economic recession during the late 1980s and early 1990s. After years of being virtually ignored by the larger society, Colombian Americans found themselves a target for American resentment over problems ranging from drug-related crime to a decline in the standard of living. According to the federal Census Bureau, 43,891 Colombians were admitted to the United States in 1990 and 1991, more than from any other South American country. They also accounted for the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants (after those from Mexico and Central America). The influx has continued through the 1990s as guerrilla violence in Colombia escalated. Between 1992 and 1997, nearly 75,000 Colombians immigrated to the United States, with many settling in California. Such statistics figured prominently in debates about the effects of immigration, both legal and illegal, on the economy and even on society itself.
Colombian Americans were also subject to concern about the growth of the undocumented population, which was perceived as an economic burden on American society. Such sentiments fueled a political backlash that led to the passage of Proposition 187 by California voters in 1994. The law denied health care, education, and other services to undocumented immigrants. A federal appeals court ruled most of the measure unconstitutional and in 1999, the state decided not to appeal the ruling. In 1994 the fate of even documented immigrants remained uncertain after the Republican congressional leadership proposed to deny them benefits and services as part of its Contract with America. In 1996 Congress enacted a law denying non-emergency health care, welfare and higher education benefits to undocumented aliens.^[3]

See also

★ Afro-Colombian

★ Colombian diaspora

References

1. US demographic census
2. Colombian Immigration
3. Sturner, Pamela: Colombian Americans - Immigration.

http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Colombian-Americans.html