Reviewed by Mary McLaughlin, Ma-TESOL; M.S. SpEd
With the firestorm of heated rhetoric and controversial executive orders surrounding immigration these days, you might be surprised to learn that the immigrant population in the U.S. was actually at its peak nearly 130 years ago back in 1890. At that time immigrants made up 14.8 percent of the population.
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the massive wave of immigration that happened back then was met with a level of controversy and xenophobia that rivals what we’re seeing now.
And there is no question, America’s immigrant population is, in fact, nearing a new high point, and could very well eclipse what was seen back in 1890, some 50 years into the industrial age when factories filled the demand for an ever-expanding labor force with immigrant workers.
As of 2015, 13.4 percent of the U.S. population was born in another country, up from a low of 4.7 percent in 1970.
Over the generations, various events and crises have pushed waves of immigrants into the United States, and, naturally, the countries these people originated from changed dramatically over the course of our nation’s history. It could be said that the story of immigration is a big part of the story of America itself.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education listed the five most common native languages among K-12 English language learner (ELL) students in American schools (shown as a percentage of all ELL students):
- Spanish – 77%
- Arabic – 2%
- Chinese – 2%
- Vietnamese – 2%
- Hmong – 1%
This language distribution has a lot to do with the different waves of immigration our country has experienced in recent decades. This distribution roughly aligns with the five largest foreign-born populations in the U.S., as reported by the Migration Policy Institute in 2015 (shown as a percentage of the total immigrant population):
- Mexico – 26.9%
- India – 5.5%
- China – 4.8%
- Philippines – 4.6%
- Vietnam – 3%
Because English is an official language in the Philippines and India, many of those emigrating from these two countries already have a strong mastery of the English language and aren’t classified as English Language Learners when they enroll in school. This contributes to the fact that Arabic ends up coming in among the top-five languages ELL students speak at home even though the number of immigrants from Arab nations is relatively small, representing just 2% of the entire immigrant population in the U.S.
The reasons for large immigrant groups coming to the U.S. has changed over the generations, just as their countries of origin have changed. But there seems to be a common thread that runs through each wave. Each had their turn, often starting out at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum even if they were well-educated in their native countries, and each strived to provide their children with an education that would give them access to the middle and upper class socioeconomic strata that has come to define the American Dream.
As an ESL teacher, this is where you come in. The work you do in K-12 classrooms gives these eager kids a shot at a college education, and a chance at more opportunities than what they could’ve dreamed of in the places they left behind.
Here’s the story of how Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese and Hmong came to become the five most common native languages among ELL students in the U.S. in 2017…
Spanish
Counting by decade, Pew Research Center statistics show that between 1880 and 1970 Germany and Italy were the home countries of most immigrants living in the U.S. It wasn’t until 1980 that Mexico topped that list, and has held the number-one position since.
Prior to 1880 the most notable spike in the number of Spanish speakers in the United States happened on a single day in 1848 when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed. The treaty transferred ownership to the U.S., in part or in whole, of what is now present-day California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. Tens of thousands of Spanish speakers stayed right where they were when the treaty took effect, becoming the new Spanish-speaking portion of the American populace. Not exactly what we think of when we talk about non-native speakers living in the U.S.
Fast-forward to the early 20th century, and we find a strong demand for Spanish speaking immigrants from Mexico to work in the agriculture industry and in other manual jobs, particularly in the Border States and the American West. This brought the first real economically-driven influx, representing what we have come to recognize as the primary reason for people migrating up from south of the border – one side motivated by hope for a more prosperous future, the other side glad to have access to a much less expensive and often seasonal labor force.
In his book about the history of U.S. immigration (A Different Mirror), Ronald Takaki notes, “‘In southern California and in Texas,’ a researcher found in 1908, ‘Mexicans do most of the excavating and road building, and are otherwise employed on public works.’ In 1928, a Texas official estimated that Mexicans represented about 75 percent of all construction labor in the state.” And not a lot has changed in the years since.
The influx of Spanish speakers from Mexico continued until they found themselves at the top of the list in 1980. In the latter half of the 20th century this was largely driven by the demand for agricultural labor as irrigation increased the amount of arable land in the West and farm subsidies made farming more secure and profitable than ever.
While Mexico is the biggest contributor of Spanish speaking immigrants to the United States, it is by no means alone. Economic crises and armed conflicts in many Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America have been major push factors for immigration to the U.S.
In fact, the first successful two-way bilingual education program in the nation was implemented for Cuban refugee children in Dade County, Florida back in 1963. Up until that point the concept of ESL or ELL did not exist; it was sink or swim if you found yourself in an American public school and didn’t speak English.
In response to advocacy and lobbying groups representing ELL students from Mexico and Central and South America, Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act in 1967. This was the landmark piece of legislation that paved the way for the creation of ESL programs in American school systems.
Arabic
While Arabic-speaking immigrants have been coming to the United States since the time of its founding, the story of this group finding themselves among the top-five English language learners in American schools has played out relatively recently. And, of course, it has also played out very publically, becoming a point of leverage for political forces looking to stem the tide of immigration to the U.S.
As of 2015, foreign nationals from countries that make up the Levant, North Africa, and the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia, accounted for 815,000 foreign-born immigrants in the U.S. That represents around two percent of all foreign-born immigrants in the U.S.A. according to the Migration Policy Institute.
In the latter half of the 20th century there were significant push factors that drove immigrants to the U.S. from Arabic-speaking countries, including the civil war in Lebanon and economic turmoil in Egypt. But this paled in comparison to what was seen in the early part of the 21st century.
Countries with Arabic-speaking majorities – especially those in the Levant and North Africa – have seen the most dramatic push factors in the years since the September 11th terror attacks in 2001. Since then the world has seen the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the war in Iraq, the fight against groups like al Qaeda and ISIS, the Arab Spring, the ouster of Mohammar Qaddafi in Libya, the Syrian Civil War, and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
The turmoil in the Middle East since 2001 has led to an increase of Arabic-speaking immigrants to the United States for two main reasons:
- Traditional Immigration – There are a greater number of Arabic-speaking people who are compelled to immigrate to the U.S. based on traditional reasons like work, marriage, family reunification, and education.
- Immigrants Seeking Refugee Status – There are a greater number of Arabic-speaking people displaced by war and violence. Just behind those immigrating for traditional reasons, refugees admitted to the United States because of war and conflict make up the second-largest group. In 2015, Syrians fleeing war made up 2.4 percent of the total refugees admitted to the U.S.
Chinese
Chinese speakers, a term that refers to those who primarily speak Mandarin or Cantonese, have been immigrating to the United States for centuries since before the Gold Rush and the building of the transcontinental railroads. When examining the topic of English language learners in grades K-12 it’s most relevant to look at immigration of Chinese speakers over the past 50 years.
A policy resulting from our alliance with China during the Second World War removed restrictions on Chinese immigration and resulted in a relatively low-level of steady immigration since. This trickle continued until 1965 when the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was passed. Prior to this act the immigration policy had favored Northern Europeans. Now Chinese speakers were on equal footing with any other foreign national who wanted to immigrate to the U.S.
In 1967 Congress passed the Bilingual Education Act partly in response to the growing number of immigrants speaking Asian languages.
In 1974 Chinese parents in San Francisco successfully sued their school district, resulting in a judicial decision that would fundamentally change the nature of ESL education in K-12 schools. The ruling said that school districts must take affirmative steps to end educational barriers for non-English speakers.
Because of Cold War politics, until 1979 a large part of the Chinese speakers coming to the U.S. were from Taiwan and spoke Taiwanese Mandarin. Most of the others came from the then-British colony of Hong Kong, and spoke Cantonese.
Mainland China Mandarin speakers didn’t start immigrating until the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) lifted restrictions on emigration in 1977. These immigrants would eventually outpace those from Hong Kong and Taiwan by the 1990s. It was only then that Chinese immigrants first ranked among the top-five foreign-born populations in the United States.
With a large upper class developing in China, Chinese immigrants now more often come from an affluent background. These immigrants are more often students going to college in the U.S. and finding jobs after graduation, as well as investors who can obtain Green Cards for their families, an opportunity available to any foreign national able to invest between $500,000 and $1 million in a U.S.-based job creating venture.
Vietnamese
The story of Vietnamese speakers coming to our country is the story of the Vietnam War. From 1955 until the fall of Saigon in 1975, U.S. forces worked in close partnership with our South Vietnamese allies. After the U.S. withdrawal, back at home there was a growing sentiment that we should bring many of our former allies – now defeated and occupied by North Vietnamese forces – to American soil.
Initial evacuations in 1975 involved settling 130,000 South Vietnamese in the United States. In 1976 this increased by an additional 35,000.
It’s not a coincidence that around this time in 1978 Congress amended the Bilingual Education Act, nearly doubling funding for its implementation and expanding eligibility for limited-English-proficiency (LEP) students to enroll.
Because of internal and regional conflicts, refugees from Vietnam continued to be significantly displaced until 1982. This is when images of “boat people” – refugees from the war whose only escape was to drift away from their homes into the sea – appeared in the U.S. news media.
Up until 1989, a steady stream of Vietnamese-speaking refugees continued to leave Vietnam for the United States. The UN High Commission for Refugees reports that between 1975 and 1995, 424,590 Vietnamese refugees came to the United States, in addition to those who were initially evacuated in 1975. This brought the total to over half a million – 554,590. Upon becoming citizens they could also sponsor family members immigrating to the U.S.
Hmong
The Hmong language has its own family of languages – Hmong-Mien – with many dialects spread throughout Southeast Asia, including China.
As an ethnic group that lives among the mountainous border regions stretching through Northern Vietnam, Laos, China, Myanmar, and Thailand, the history of Hmong-speakers coming to the United States is also rooted in the Vietnam War.
Their unique cultural identity – including language – made them a separate ethnicity from the Vietnamese, and being located in North Vietnam and northern Laos, the Hmong were an ideal target for CIA recruitment during the Vietnam War.
The idea was to arm and train the Hmong as a guerrilla insurgency force against North Vietnamese army supply lines to help prevent its expansion into Laos. Exploiting preexisting tensions as well as offering incentives, the CIA succeeded in recruiting up to 60 percent of Hmong men in this fight according to some estimates.
However, as a unique and identifiable ethnic group, the Hmong were particularly vulnerable to attacks from North Vietnamese and allied Laotian forces once the U.S. withdrew in 1975. This vulnerability and their loyal alliance with the United States eventually earned the Hmong a special place in U.S. immigration policy after the war.
As a result of trying to offer some level of protection in the form of anonymity, the Hmong would be scattered throughout Southeast Asia, most relegated to refugee status for decades, even up to the present day in some areas. High-profile situations that played out in the news in the years after the war helped bring attention to these refugees and the role the Hmong played during the Vietnam War. As a result, their plight eventually became known to policymakers in the United States.
This resulted in significant new waves of Hmong people immigrating to the United States in the late 1980s and 1990s. This helped make Hmong the fifth most common native language among English language learners in American K-12 schools.