Number of Filipinos in US up 38 percent

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The ethnic Filipino population in the United States rose by 38 percent in 2010 compared to 2000, according to the latest US census.

Recently-released US data showed that there are 2,555,923 Filipinos in America now, based on results of the 2010 census.

This number represents an increase of some 750,000 compared to the 1.8 millions Filipinos counted in the census 10 years ago.

These figures, however, only represent counts of “Filipino Alone” responses to the 2010 census survey, according to a press statement of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA).

Based on 2000 Census and 2008 Population Estimates, it is projected that the total could further go up by 20 percent when the count for “Mixed-Race Filipinos” is added by the end of the summer.

If these estimates hold, the total number of people with Filipino ethnicity could top 3.5 million.

As expected, the largest concentration of Filipinos can be found in sunny California, the favorite destination of Filipinos because of its mild weather plus the fact that it is the state where many of the early Filipinos have taken roots.

Last year’s census counted 1,195,580 Filipinos in the Golden State, which is about one-and-a-half the size of the Philippines in terms of land area.

This number constitutes 3.2 percent of all the people in the state.

Hawaii comes second with 197,497, followed by Illinois, 114,724; New Jersey, 110,650; New York, 104,287; Texas, 103,074; Nevada, 98,351; Washington, 91,367; Florida, 90,223; Virginia, 66,963; Maryland, 43,923; and Arizona, 35,013.

Growth rates

Filipinos in Nevada continue to have the highest rate of growth nationwide as their numbers jumped from 12,048 in 1990 to 40,529 in 2000—a dramatic increase of 236 percent.

In the last 10 years, this number more than doubled again to 98,351 as Filipinos were attracted by the relatively cheap cost of real estate there, particularly in Las Vegas.

In fact, the surge in the number of Filipino residents in Nevada contributed to the 35 percent 10-year population growth, the fastest in the United States.

As a result, the state gained another seat in Congress because of its large increase in population.

With Filipinos comprising 3.6 percent of the total Nevada population, NaFFAA National Chairman Eduardo Navarra said that the Filipino population could influence the outcome of close elections.

The 2010 census also points to significant growth of Filipino communities in Arizona—with a 116 percent rise—followed by North Carolina, 94 percent; Wyoming, 91 percent; Idaho, 87 percent; Alabama, 82 percent; New Hampshire, 81 percent; Utah, 80 percent; Texas, 77 percent; and New Mexico, 72 percent.

According to Navarra, Filipinos are yet to translate their growing number into political clout because of their tendency to shy away from elections.

“This means we have to register to vote and take time to actually go out and cast our ballots in local and national elections,” he said.

“This is the only effective way we can be heard and taken seriously by our elected representatives, especially when we advocate issues that are critical to our community,” Navarra added.

Merit Salud, NaFFAA’s national coordinator for FilVote, said that NaFFAA as the umbrella organization of ethnic Filipino groups in the US is mounting a get-out-and-vote grassroot movement in preparation for next year’s American national elections.

“Yes, we have a high rate of naturalization and voter registration, but our voting rate is embarrassingly low,” he noted.

“We cannot continue to be invisible. We must assert our political presence in this country by stepping up our civic participation in all aspects of American life,” Salud said. –Jun Medina, Special Correspondent, Manila Times