Filipinos in Michigan

The first Filipinos in Michigan were three elite students in scholarship at the University of Michigan, recruited by Dean C. Worcester.[1] Working Filipinos began immigrating to Michigan in 1903, following the adoption of the Pensionado Act.[1] After seeing the success of the program, other Filipinos began to self-fund their own immigration to the United States; these first immigrants settled in Hawaii, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle.[1] These early immigrants faced racism and the struggles of the Great Depression, and moved to the Midwestern United States in hopes of finding better employment opportunities.[1] Some of these Pinoys settled in Detroit, working in the automotive manufacturing.[1] Others, including Pinays, worked in the hospitality industry, and they developed a small community.[1]

After World War Two, thousands of war brides arrived in the United States from the Philippines.[1] There was enough of a community to start a Filipino Women's Club of Detroit in 1952.[1] Additional ethnic organizations were found to support Filipino people in Michigan, both at U. of Michigan and in the cities, from the 1950s through the 1980s.[1]

Almost all Filipinos in Michigan arrived after 1965,[2][3] with the passage of a new immigration law. The first wave of nurses from the Philippines arrived in the 1970s, including to Ann Arbor.[1] As of 2010, 22,500 Filipino-Americans lived in Michigan.[1] As of 2020, the Filipino community is large and thriving; over 500 people celebrated the feast of Santo Niño in Detroit that January.[4] As of 2024, over 52,000 Filipino-Americans now live in Michigan.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lawsin, Emily P.; Galura, Joseph A. (2015). Filipinos in Michigan, in Asian Americans in Michigan: Voices from the Midwest (ebook). Wayne State University. ISBN 9780814339749. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  2. ↑ Anderson, James M.; Smith, Iva A. (1983). Ethnic Groups in Michigan. Ethnos Press. pp. 107–108. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  3. ↑ Kim, Barbara W. (2001). Race, Space, and Identity: Examining Asian American Racial and Ethnic Formations in the Midwest. p. 49. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  4. ↑ Patti, Gabriella (January 13, 2020). "Local Filipinos celebrate Feast of Santo Niño, where faith and culture intersect". Detroit Catholic. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  5. ↑ Prestininzi, Jenna. "Filipino American History Month is celebrated in October". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2026-08-17.


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