26901: Nlbo: (comment) Haitians among poorest immigrants because of Education (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Nlbo@aol.com

 Wednesday 14 December 2005

 By Charles Arthur

 A new study published by the Washington-based Centre for Immigration
 Studies (CIS) has revealed that 6% of the 7.9 million immigrants who
 have moved to the United States in the last five years are from the
 Caribbean. Between 2000 and 2005, 467,000 Caribbean immigrants went
 to the United States.

 Cuba accounted for the most immigrants with a total of 128,000. The
 Dominican Republic followed closely with 121,000, while Haiti and
 Jamaica followed with 91,000 and 62,000 respectively.

 The report estimates that between 3.6 and 3.8 million, or almost
 half, of the 7.9 million new arrivals are illegal immigrants.

 According to the CIS study, there are just over 35 million foreign-
 born people living in the United States. By far the largest number
 of foreign-born people - 10.8 million - have Mexico as their country
 of origin. Cuba is the country of origin for 948,000 people, the
 Dominican Republic for 695,000, Jamaica for 607,000, and Haiti for
 570,000.

 The report finds that immigrants to the United States experience
 considerably worse quality of life compared to those described
 as 'natives'. The poverty rate for immigrants and their US-born
 children (under 18) is 18.4%, compared to a rate of 11.7% for
 natives and their children.

 Immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Haiti fare worse than the
 average for immigrants from all countries. Twenty-five per cent of
 immigrants from the Dominican Republic - 174,000 people - live in
 poverty. Over 20% of immigrants from Haiti - 117,000 people - live
 in poverty.

 The main reason for the high poverty rates is given as poor
 education, leading to only poorly paid jobs. Of adult immigrants,
 31% have not completed high school, three-and-a-half times the rate
 for natives. More than a third - 36.7% - of immigrants from the
 Dominican Republic have not completed high school. Immigrants from
 Haiti scored somewhat higher with only 27.2% of them not having
 completed their secondary education. The percentage for native-born
 inhabitants of the United States is 9%.

 The CIS study also finds that one-third of all immigrants lack
 health insurance, making it difficult, if not impossible, to receive
 basic health care. Nearly 43% of immigrants from Haiti are
 uninsured, while the rate for those from the Dominican Republic is
 30.5%.

 The full report is available online at http://www.cis.org/


 PS :   "Eye on the Caribbean" is realized by Charles Arthur, and is
 provided in a partnership between the Haiti Support Group and
 AlterPresse as a contribution to Haiti's greater integration within
 the Caribbean region.



Nekita's note -If the national percentage of Haitians currently living in the
United States under poverty level is  20% , observers find it alarming, wait
until this generation start having children. I have been saying that for the
past decade. Education is not a high priority in the churches, the radios and
the social service agencies that Haitians are relying upon. Education had
become Nekita's personal anthem. I said that many times. I started noticing the
decline in Haitian children's educational level in l985, started to address it in
l995. But so far, no one including the teachers, the radios that Haitians
listen are forcefully meeting and talking and addressing the needs to help our
own communities. I have heard it many times from the Blan that Haitians have to
take care of themselves. But I don't know if these numbers mean anything to
anyone. Taking care of Haitians' educational problems is a full time job, but I
don't see stakeholders understanding the severity of the problem despite of
statistics of achievement in the Black and Hispanic communities.

Nekita