This project is an examination of the Jamaican immigrant group in New York City and the various aspects of their experiences upon arrival. We investigate the historical context of their foundations in Jamaica, and their subsequent movement out of the country and into the United States. In addition, we consider different socioeconomic factors of their integration, such as education levels, neighborhood income status, poverty rates, and English language proficiency rates. Through our research we have identified the predominant areas in which they have settled in the city and have also found that Jamaicans, though significant members of the community, do not constitute a large portion of the immigrant population of the United States, and more specifically of New York City.

Caribbean societies, including Jamaican society, are unique in that the people who currently inhabit these societies are the descendants of those who were forced to relocate there during the 19th century. The native people of Jamaica and other Caribbean islands were decimated as a result of European colonization, leading to the importation of slaves and indentured servants from various African and Asian countries. Thus, prior to around 1901, there was little to no emigration out of the Caribbean region (Grosfoguel et al., 1994). However, during this period of limited movement, those who were emigrating were moving to Panama due to the acquisition of the Panama Canal by the United States government and the high demand for labor there. From 1911 to 1921, it was reported that there was a net outward movement of 77,000 people from Jamaica, approximately 7,000 of which went to the United States. From then on, there was a steady outward flow of Jamaican immigrants, but it was not until 1943 to 1954 that Jamaicans began to flood into the United States, with as many as 20,000 people immigrating into the country (Maunder, 1955). This peak, which continued for several decades after 1954, was sparked by the national labor shortage created as a result of World War II (Foner, 1985). During this time, New York was likely looked upon by immigrants as a bustling metropolis, with plenty of employment opportunities left vacant due to the war. Male immigrants would find industrial work in factories, while females would be recruited for various domestic occupations (Grosfoguel et al., 1994).

After this peak of Jamaican immigration, the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 enacted a restrictive quota system that led to a drastic decrease in the number of immigrants coming from Jamaica. This quota system placed a ceiling on the number of immigrants allowed from each country based on its population. Subsequently, those from smaller countries, such as Jamaica, could not immigrate to the United States in such great numbers as compared to countries. Thus, during this period, Jamaican immigrants were scarce. However, after a decade, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 amended the previously enacted McCarran-Walter Act and abolished the quota system set into place, which lead to a resurgence in the number of Jamaican immigrants arriving to New York (Keely, 1971). Since then, immigration from the Caribbean and more specifically Jamaica has remained relatively steady, with New York serving as an ideal place for settlement, due to the presence of several Jamaican communities in the city, in addition to the numerous job opportunities available for immigrants (Nossiter, 1995).

As of 2014, there were approximately 4 million Caribbean immigrants living in the States, with Jamaicans comprising nearly 20% of this population at approximately 998,000 immigrants, as demonstrated in Table 1 (Batalova et al., 2016). The percentage of immigrants from Jamaica of the total foreign born population in the United States is around 2%. This percentage, and the percentage of Caribbean immigrants on the whole, is relatively small in comparison to other countries, such as Mexico

Prior to the 1960s, Caribbean immigrants often came to the country as political exiles or labor migrants. However, most Caribbean immigrants today obtain permission to legally reside in the United States by qualifying as immediate relatives of citizens, as family-sponsored immigrants, or as refugees or asylees (Batalova et al., 2016). There are also around 232,000 Caribbean migrants who have entered by boat and live in the country illegally, and Jamaica is one of the primary origin countries of such unauthorized immigrants from the Caribbean (Batalova et al., 2016). Of the total 1,016,518 immigrants who were granted lawful permanent resident status in 2014, approximately 19,026 were from Jamaica, which equates to around 2% of the total (Department of Homeland Security, 2016). Of those Caribbean immigrants that acquired lawful status to reside in the United States, 33% were through family sponsored preferences, 34% through immediate relatives, and 31% through refugee and asylee status, as indicated by Table 2 (Batalova et al., 2016).

In 2011, there were approximately 169,200 first-generation Jamaican immigrants residing in New York City. As shown in Figure X from The Newest New Yorkers, the two most popular neighborhoods in New York City in which Jamaican immigrants have settled are Williamsbridge-Olinville, which is located in the northern Bronx, and Canarsie, Brooklyn, with populations of 11,195 and 9,666 respectively. Overall, foreign-born Jamaicans have congregated primarily in central and eastern Brooklyn, southeast Queens, and northern Bronx (Lobo, 2013). Jamaicans are the second largest foreign-born group residing in the Bronx, right behind Dominicans. Because the above data was collected several years ago, one must take into consideration that there have likely been changes in the number of Jamaican immigrants living in the specified areas. Previous data has indicated that there has been significant movement among Jamaican immigrants within the city, suggesting that neighborhood demographics may have changed in recent years (Lobo 2013). Jamaican immigrants likely chose to settle in the aforementioned areas within New York City because of the communities already established by Blacks in the Bronx and Brooklyn (Jones, 2008). These ethnic enclaves would give them a sense of belonging in their new home country. Since the 1980s it has been theorized that ethnic enclaves provided its immigrant inhabitants a “distinct advantage over those dispersed immediately into the mainstream economy and the city at large” (Sullivan, 2012). New immigrants who settle in these communities have access to entire networks of people from their home country, which provide a variety of social and economic opportunities. Furthermore, the assimilation of Jamaican immigrants is facilitated by these ethnic enclaves, as they allow these immigrants to find work within the enclave because xenophobia is not a determining factor (Sullivan, 2012).

As shown in Figure 1, the percent of Jamaicans living in neighborhoods with different incomes generally follows the same pattern as other foreign born New Yorkers, as well as the total population of the city. However, according to the data above, Jamaican immigrants tend to have a slightly higher percentage of people living in low income neighborhoods compared to other foreign born New Yorkers, as well as the general New York City population. One reason for this could be the presence of racial discrimination in New York and the United States as a whole. Though racial biases do exist in Jamaica, Jamaicans that immigrate to New York are subject to types of prejudices that they had not before encountered. In their native Jamaica, skin color was not as great a discriminatory factor as it is in the United States. Because of this, many Jamaican immigrants face barriers that may prevent them from obtaining certain types of housing, employment, and education (Foner, 1998). Thus, Jamaican born immigrants may have trouble finding housing in certain neighborhoods as a result of racial discrimination. To further elaborate on the issue of race, the United States does present some challenges to the Jamaican people as they enter the country, particularly in the realm of race and ethnicity. Nancy Foner depicts this struggle in her 1998 paper, “West Indian Identity in the Diaspora: Comparative and Historical Perspectives.” Though the presence of a large African American community cushions Jamaican immigrants from the discrimination faced in the United States, it makes it difficult for Jamaicans to establish an identity in the States. In the presence of so many other black communities, it is hard for Jamaicans and other West Indian people to differentiate themselves ethnically from African Americans. Caribbean immigrants, including Jamaicans, go to great lengths to separate themselves ethnically from African Americans in the United States (Brown, 2015). This is particularly arduous, as society finds it difficult to distinguish between a person’s race, in this case, being Black, and their ethnicity, in this case Jamaican. It has been noted that prior to entering the United States, the case of being Black was not an issue for Jamaicans in their native country. Foner notes one Jamaican immigrant “…wasn’t aware of [his/her] color till [he/she] got here,” which places emphasis on the struggle that many Jamaican immigrants face in a predominantly White society (Brown, 2015). For the first time, Jamaican people face a discrepancy between their own perception of their ethnicity and society’s perception of their race. Moreover, the adversity faced by Jamaicans entering the United States further emphasizes the concept that race and ethnicity are two separate entities.

Jamaicans, according to the data presented in Figure 2, have the lowest poverty rate in comparison to other immigrant groups in New York City. In addition, the poverty rate of Jamaican immigrants is lower than the average poverty rate of New York City as indicated by the same source. This phenomenon is likely a result of higher education levels, as well as the types of jobs taken by members of the Jamaican community in New York City. It is reported that of Jamaican-born women, 24% held a bachelor’s degree, and of Jamaican-born men, 19% held a bachelor’s degree, which are both relatively close to the average percentage of the foreign-born population that holds degrees (Chappell et al., 2010). In addition, only 2% of the Jamaican born reported a limited proficiency in the English language, indicating that a majority of these immigrants were likely better educated and had better employment opportunities (Chappell et al., 2010). Immigrants from Jamaica were also more likely to find careers in management, business, science, and arts, which may provide better wages than other types of employment taken by immigrants (Batalova et al., 2016). In a chapter from his 1997 book Still the Promised City? African Americans and New Immigrants in Postindustrial New York, Roger Waldinger asserted that for many years, the African American population of the city dominated the low skilled, or so called “lousy” jobs, but as new groups of immigrants began to arrive, these low wage jobs were eventually taken over by Caribbean, Hispanic, and Asian immigrants (Waldinger, 1997). This model of job distribution in the city has likely undergone some changes in the past decade since Waldinger’s book was written, as other newly arrived immigrants begin taking hold of these employment positions, while Caribbeans and other immigrant groups gradually find upper level jobs. This indicates a cyclic pattern in the way immigrants move upward on the employment ladder as they gain greater skills and experiences in the United States. These are not the only reasons for low poverty levels in Jamaican communities. Jamaican ethnic communities, such as those in the Bronx, provide social and economic support for newly arrived Jamaican immigrants, similar to the support provided in ethnic enclaves. Here, the community values things such as education and work ethic, which subsequently leads to the development of a middle-class immigrant community more inclined to higher level employment and education (Nossiter, 1995).

Figure 3 demonstrates that there are few Jamaican immigrants who have limited proficiency in English, as compared to other immigrant groups. The reason for this is that English is the primary language spoken in Jamaica. In the Caribbean Islands, English tends to coexist with various forms of English-lexicon creole languages. In Jamaica specifically, the creole language is referred to as Patois (Mair and Sand, “n.d”). However, because Jamaicans are often in contact with Europeans and other foreigners due to Jamaica’s heavy tourism industry, proficiency in English is essential to be prosperous in Jamaica. This accounts for the high proficiency levels of English in the foreign-born Jamaican population of New York City.

New York City is home to a rich and diverse community of immigrants from across the world, each with a distinct and unique history. The community of Jamaican immigrants in the city has been established for over half a century, and has many defining features that make it one of a kind.