AFRICAN REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS

Africans constitute one of the fastest growing immigrant populations living in the United States. The number of African immigrants arriving in the United States during the last 25 years has more than quadrupled when compared with arrival figures from the 1960s and 1970s. African immigrants arrive from literally every country on the Continent: from Egypt and Kenya to Angola and Senegal. Africans settle in the United States for the same reasons earlier waves of immigrants came to this country – to find enhanced employment opportunities, to reunify with family members, to flee political persecution, and for pursuit of education.

Africans live in every state and every metropolitan area. They work hard to provide for their families. They attend schools, buy homes, and pay taxes. Africans are proud to be Americans. Achieving the American Dream, however, is not without serious challenges.

Like many immigrants, Africans living in the United States often come to this country with few assets and must climb from the bottom rung of the economic ladder. Working multiple jobs and trying to maintain social (and often financial) connections with family and friends on the other side of the globe places enormous pressures on recently-arrived Africans. Indeed, many immigrants submit to personal sacrifices so that their children and other relatives may experience brighter futures. Their’s are testaments of determination, selflessness, and courage.

Africans in the United States

Africans on the Continent

Statistics and References