By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Africa immigrants have the fastest growth rate in the United States, based both on historical ties and recent migrations to the world’s largest economy.
Data compiled by US Census Bureau show that the number of African migrants grew at a rate of almost 50 per cent from 2010 to 2018, more than double the rate of migration from Asia, South America, and the Caribbean.
The higher growth rate of Africans is partly influenced by the relatively smaller African migrant communities compared with the size of longer-established communities, for example, from Central America.
This is true even among African communities.
Nigerians form the largest group of African immigrants in the US, but Cameroon tops the growth rate – with the number of Cameroonian immigrants doubling to 80,000 in 2018 compared with 2010.
Much of that growth occurred in the last several years, making the Cameroonian population the fastest growing in the US.
These numbers are based on survey results and likely to be accurate within 10,000 people.
Also influencing the growth is the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon, where government crackdown on protests by English-speaking citizens fuels a separatist movement in the predominantly French-speaking country,
Protests against the Francophone-led government have led to violent battles in recent years, forcing Cameroonians to flee the country, according to Quartz Africa.
But the increase does not just stem from Africans and Cameroonians seeking asylum or refugee status, it also comes from those coming to the US to further their education.
Data by UNESCO Institute of Statistics from 2006 to 2014 showed that the number of African students pursuing tertiary education abroad grew 24 per cent, rising from about 343,000 to 427,000.
The number rose 9 per cent from 2013 to 2014 alone.
Africans have also benefited from the US Diversity Visa Lottery Program, better known as the “Green Card lottery.”
Countries like Ghana, which is also among the top five African countries with a fast-growing immigrant population in the US, had the highest number of applicants than any other country in 2015 and at least a million DV applicants in 2016.
The US State Department sets regional quotas every year and in 2017, the largest number of visas (about 19,000) went to citizens of African countries.
However, recent moves by Washington could affect these trends, by using “workarounds” to limit legal migration from certain regions of the world, including Africa and the Caribbean.
One of such policies is restricting who can apply for a diversity visa by mandating that all applicants have valid passports. Immigrant advocates argue this could deter applicants from developing countries.
“This seems like a backdoor strategy to discourage low-income people from applying for the diversity visa lottery; we know that this president has expressed strong preference for immigrants that are wealthy, white and European,” said Amaha Kassa, executive director of the nonprofit, African Communities Together.
While it remains to be seen how new US immigration policies will impact the flow of African migrants, Kassa said any decline in the numbers will likely be temporary.
“This is a detour because I don’t think majority of Americans agree with Donald Trump’s restrictionist agenda.
“As long as African migrants have children who are becoming citizens and voters, over time we will become a more welcoming and inclusive society.”