Pakistani Population in America Reaches 600,000

Foreign-born Pakistani immigrant population in the United States rose 31% since 2010 to reach nearly 400,000 as of 2017. This figure includes naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents (green card holders), temporary workers, and foreign students from Pakistan. An earlier 2015 estimate put the number of  US-born Pakistani-Americans at 180,000.  It is safe to assume that the total number of Pakistanis in the United States exceeds 600,000 in 2018.

Origins of Foreign-Born Americans. Source: Pew Research

2017 US Census Update:


On September 13, 2018, the US Census Bureau released some of the data from the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS). The survey reflects the U.S. population as of July 1, 2017.

The source countries with the largest increases in the number immigrants since 2010 are India (up 830,215), China (up 677,312), the Dominican Republic (up 283,381), Philippines (up 230,492), Cuba (up 207,124), El Salvador (up 187,783), Venezuela (up 167,105), Colombia (up 146,477), Honduras (up 132,781), Guatemala (up 128,018), Nigeria (up 125,670), Brazil (up 111,471), Vietnam (up 102,026), Bangladesh (up 95,005), Haiti (up 92,603), and Pakistan (up 92,395).

The sending countries with the largest percentage increases since 2010 are Nepal (up 120%), Burma (up 95%), Venezuela (up 91%), Afghanistan (up 84%), Saudi Arabia (up 83%), Syria (up 75%), Bangladesh (up 62%), Nigeria (up 57%), Kenya (up 56%), India (up 47%), Iraq (up 45%), Ethiopia (up 44%), Egypt (up 34%), Brazil (up 33%), Dominican Republic and Ghana (up 32%), China (up 31%), Pakistan (up 31%), and Somalia (up 29%).

The states with the largest increases in the number of immigrants since 2010 are Florida (up 721,298), Texas (up 712,109), California (up 502,985), New York (up 242,769), New Jersey (up 210,481), Washington (up 173,891), Massachusetts (up 172,908), Pennsylvania (up 154,701), Virginia (up 151,251), Maryland (up 124,241), Georgia (up 123,009), Michigan (up 116,059), North Carolina (up 110,279), and Minnesota (up 107,760).

The states with the largest percentage increase since 2010 are North Dakota (up 87%), Delaware (up 37%), West Virginia (up 33%), South Dakota (up 32%), Wyoming (up 30%), Minnesota (up 28%), Nebraska (up 28%), Pennsylvania (up 21%), Utah (up 21%), Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Florida, Washington, and Iowa (each up 20%). The District of Columbia's immigrant population was up 25%.

Education and Income Levels of Pakistani-Americans:

56% of Pakistani-Americans have at least a bachelor's degree, much higher than 33% of Americans with college degrees. Among Pakistani-American college grads, 33% have a bachelor's degree while 23% have master's or Ph.Ds.

Median annual income of Pakistani-American households is $60,000, higher than the $50,000 median household income of all Americans. 33% of Pakistani-American households earn at least $90,000 while 18% earn more than $140,000.

Pakistani Doctors in America:

Pakistan is the third biggest source of foreign doctors who make up a third of all practicing physicians in the United States, according to OECD. Vast majority of Muslim doctors in America are of Pakistani origin.  Among them is Dr.Mark Humayun who was awarded top US medal for technology by President Barack Obama in 2016.

About 30% of the 800,000 doctors, or about 240,000 doctors, currently practicing in America are of foreign origin, according to Catholic Health Association of the United States. Predictions vary, but according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, by 2025 the U.S. will be short about 160,000 physicians. This gap will most likely be filled by more foreign doctors.

Foreign Doctors in US, UK. Source: OECD


As of 2013, there are over 12,000 Pakistani doctors, or about 5% of all foreign physicians and surgeons, in practice in the United States.  Pakistan is the third largest source of foreign-trained doctors. India tops with 22%, or 52,800 doctors. It is followed by the Philippines with 6%, or 14,400 foreign-trained doctors. India and Pakistan also rank as the top two sources of foreign doctors in the United Kingdom.

Pakistanis in Silicon Valley:

is home to 12,000 to 15,000 Pakistani Americans. Thousands of them are working at Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Intel, Oracle, Twitter and hundreds of other high-tech companies from small start-ups to large Fortune 500 corporations. Pakistani-Americans are contributing to what Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee describe as "The Second Machine Age" in a recent book with the same title.

A Representative Sample of Pakistani-American Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley
Pakistani-Americans are the largest foreign-born Muslim group in San Francisco Bay Area that includes Silicon Valley, according to a 2013 study. The study was commissioned by the One Nation Bay Area Project, a civic engagement program supported by Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The San Francisco Foundation, Marin Community Foundation and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy.

 Overall, US-born Muslims make up the largest percentage at 34% of all Muslims in the Bay Area, followed by 14% born in Pakistan, 11% in Afghanistan, 10% in India, 3% in Egypt and 2% each in Iran, Jordan, Palestine and Yemen.

Pakistani-American entrepreneurs, advisers, mentors, venture capitalists, investment bankers, accountants and lawyers make up a growing ecosystem in Silicon Valley. Dozens of Pakistani-American founded start-ups have been funded by top venture capital firms. Many such companies have either been acquired in M&A deals or gone public by offering shares for sale at major stock exchanges. Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN) has become a de facto platform for networking among Pakistani-American entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. It holds an annual event called OPEN Forum which attracts over 500 attendees.

Entertainment and Sports:

Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American actor-comedian, recently made news with the successful release of his feature film The Big Sick on hundreds of screens across the United States.  It is a cross-culture romantic comedy based on actual events that breaks new ground by casting a brown-skinned Pakistani-American in a lead role in a movie produced and widely screened in the United States. Acquired by Amazon Studios for $12 million after a bidding war at Sundance film festival, the film has already grossed over $36 million so far.

Shahid Khan, a Pakistani-American engineer who made his multi-billion dollar fortune in auto industry, became only non-white owner of an NFL franchise team when he bought Jacksonville Jaguars for $760 million in 2011.

Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers franchise general manager is a Pakistani-American named Farhan Zaidi, an MIT and Berkeley-educated economist.

Kamala Khan is a new Ms. Marvel comic book character created by Pakistani-American Sana Amanat for Marvel Entertainment. Kamala is both female and Muslim. It is part of the American comic giant's efforts to reflect a growing diversity among its readers.

Academy Award winning Hollywood hits Frozen, Life of Pi and The Golden Compass have one thing in common:  Each used extensive computer-generated imagery (CGI) created by Pakistani-American Mir Zafar Ali who won Oscar statuettes for "Best Visual Effects" in each of them.

Pakistani-American Organizations:

Rockefeller Foundation-Aspen Institute Diaspora (RAD) program identified 79 Pakistani-American organizations. Of these, 5 organizations had revenue exceeding $1m while two had over $200,000 in their most recent fiscal year. The top organizations are The Citizens Foundation (TCF), the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent in North America (APNA) and the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs (OPEN). Other large organizations are American Pakistan Foundation, Imran Khan Cancer Foundation and Human Development Foundation (HDF). These organization help raise funds for education, health care and other development and human welfare activities in Pakistan.

Trump's America:

Some Pakistani-Americans, like members of other ethnic and religious minorities, are alarmed by the increasing bigotry in America since the election of President Donald Trump. This is particularly true of places like New York's Little Pakistan were Pakistanis were targeted after 911 terrorist attacks. At the height of the sweep, over 20,000 people in Brooklyn’s South Asian communities left the United States, a COPO survey found, according to Gotham Gazette, a New York City publication. Many sought political asylum in Canada and Australia, and some returned to Pakistan and other countries. A number of them never returned. Many had their legitimate US immigration applications pending at the time. Others had their cases in immigration courts and they were waiting for disposition by judges.

Summary:

There are an estimated 600,000 Pakistanis in the United States as of 2018. With few exceptions, most Pakistani-Americans, making up a tiny fraction of the US population, are thriving. They have significantly higher incomes and education levels than the general US population.  Pakistani-Americans are engaged in diverse occupations ranging from doctors, engineers and lawyers to large and small business owners and drivers. In addition to participating in local philanthropic and community activities, several Pakistani-American organizations help raise funds for schools, hospitals and other human welfare activities in Pakistan.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

New York's Little Pakistan

Pakistan is the 3rd Largest Source of Foreign Doctors in America

Pakistani-American Stars in "Big Sick" Movie

Pakistani-American Population Growth 2nd Fastest Among Asian-Americans

Silicon Valley Pakistani-Americans

A Dozen British Pakistanis in UK Pariament

Trump and Modi

OPEN Silicon Valley Forum 2017: Pakistani Entrepreneurs Conference

Pakistani-American's Tech Unicorn Files For IPO at $1.6 Billion Valuation

Pakistani-American Cofounders Sell Startup to Cisco for $610 million

Pakistani Brothers Spawned $20 Billion Security Software Industry

Pakistani-American Ashar Aziz's Fireeye Goes Public

Pakistani-American Pioneered 3D Technology in Orthodontics

Pakistani-Americans Enabling 2nd Machine Revolution

Pakistani-American Shahid Khan Richest South Asian in America

Two Pakistani-American Silicon Valley Techs Among Top 5 VC Deals

Pakistani-American's Game-Changing Vision 





Comments

Riaz Haq said…
Jagdish Patel came alone from #India to #UnitedStates 50 years ago; he's now head of a 91-member clan of #Indian #immigrants and children spread across #America. They work as #programmers, #engineers, #doctors, university researchers. #immigration https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/16/us/immigration-family-chain-migration-foreign-born.html

The share of the United States population that is foreign-born has reached its highest level since 1910, according to government data released last week. But in recent years, the numbers have been soaring not so much with Latin Americans sweeping across the border, but with educated people from Asia obtaining visas — families like the Patels, who have taken advantage of “family reunification” provisions that have been a cornerstone of federal immigration law for half a century.

Since the Patels began flocking to America in the 1970s, millions of other Indians have arrived to work as programmers and engineers in Silicon Valley, doctors in underserved rural areas and researchers at universities. The majority were sponsored by relatives who came before them. Others arrived on work visas and were later sponsored for legal residency, or green cards, by their employers.

The Trump administration has framed immigration as a threat to the nation’s security and to American workers, a drastic departure from the longtime consensus that immigration was a net positive for the country. The president’s public priorities have often focused on fortifying the southwest border, but his administration is also working to scale back decades of legal migration that have led to Asians, not Latin Americans, becoming the largest group of new foreign-born residents since 2010.

Already, the administration has quietly begun taking steps to cut back legal immigration, under the banner of “Buy American and Hire American,” which the president framed in an executive order last year. Some experts predict that the number of immigrants granted permanent legal residency in the 2018 fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, will show a rare decline.

Without passing new legislation, the administration has pursued a number of policies that are slowing legal immigration. It has reduced refugee admissions; narrowed who is eligible for asylum; made it more difficult to qualify for permanent residency or citizenship; and tightened scrutiny of applicants for high-skilled worker visas, known as H-1Bs.

A recent analysis of government data by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan research group, found that the denial rate for H-1B visa petitions had jumped by 41 percent in the last three months of the 2017 fiscal year, compared with the previous quarter. Government requests for additional information on applications doubled in the same period.

Green-card applicants sponsored by an employer now must undergo in-person interviews, a step that previously was taken only in cases that raised concerns.

The Trump administration is pushing policies supposedly intended to favor immigrants who have valuable skills at a time when newcomers already are, on average, at their most educated. Nearly half of all foreign-born people who have arrived since 2010 have college degrees, compared with about 30 percent of native-born residents.
Riaz Haq said…
#Remittances to #Pakistan from #Pakistani expats jump 13.5% to $4 billion in July-Aug 2018. Inflows from #US saw a significant jump of 31.5%, posting highest increase during first 2 months of 2018-19 with total inflow at $597m https://www.dawn.com/news/1432240

KARACHI: Overseas Pakistanis sent around $4 billion remittances during the first two months of this fiscal year, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday.

The total remittances increased 13.45 per cent to $3.966bn during the July-August period. The central bank said that during August the inflow of workers’ remittances amounted to $2.037bn, which is 5.6pc higher than July and 4.24pc higher than August 2017.

Remittances are second most important contributor to the country’s overall foreign exchange reserves after exports. During FY18, Pakistan’s remittances were equal to total export earnings.

Inflows from US saw a significant jump of 31.5pc, posting the highest increase during first two months of 2018-19 with total inflow at $597m. The United Kingdom, home to a large Pakistani expatriate population, also posted a 24pc jump in total inflows clocking in at $556m during July-Aug period. Furthermore, amongst the Gulf states, inward remittances from the UAE swelled by 15.4pc reaching $894m during the period under review.

In addition to that, remittances from the EU also increased by 8.4pc with total inflows reaching $124m compared to same period last year.

On the declining trend, remittances from Saudi Arabia fell to $903 million down by 1.86pc, whereas those from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries dropping by 7pc to $392m during July-August FY19.

Despite the festive season during the month, August saw a decline in remittances from Saudi Arabia – largest contributor – dropping by $45.5m to $465.5m in August.

Remittances from UAE increased to $461m by $21m in August. Remittances from United States also increased by $57m and by $29m from UK.

Pakistan’s widening current account deficit has increased the country’s dependence on remittances; however, manpower exports to Middle East have dropped significantly during the last two years. Saudi Arabia’s change in policy towards foreign workers, looking to enable the native population, has resulted in loss of jobs for Pakistani workers and in turn declined the overall remittances contribution from the country.

The newly elected government has also asked overseas Pakistanis to send $1,000 per head to fund the construction of dams. This appeal’s effect is likely to be reflected at the end of the first quarter of FY19.

However, the government has yet to come up with measures to address the widening trade and current account deficits. The finance minister has recently said that the country needs $9bn to meet its current account needs.
Riaz Haq said…
DEMOGRAPHIC SNAPSHOT OF SOUTH ASIANS IN THE UNITED STATES
April 2019

http://saalt.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SAALT-Demographic-Snapshot-2019.pdf

Over 9.5% of green card recipients in FY 2017 were from South Asian countries: Bangladesh (14,693); Bhutan (2,940); India
(60,394); Nepal (11,610); Pakistan (17,408); and Sri Lanka (1,627).

The South Asian American community grew roughly 40% between 2010 and 2017. (See Table 1) The Nepali community
experienced the most significant growth, increasing by 206.6% followed by Indian, Bhutanese, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and
Sri Lankan populations.
By 2065, it is projected that Asian Americans will be the largest immigrant population. The term immigrant refers to 2
individuals living in the United States but were not U.S. citizens at birth and necessarily all individuals who trace their
ancestry to a country outside of the United States. Bhutanese (92%) and Nepalese (88%) communities have the highest
foreign-born shares, followed by Sri Lankans (78%), Bangladeshis (74%), Indians (69%), and Pakistanis (67%)


Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP) describes the total South Asian American population that is eligible to vote.30
Bangladeshi - 69,825
Bhutanese - 1,242
Indian - 1,558,594
Nepalese - 18,931
Pakistani - 222,252
Sri Lankan - 22,161

Changes in South Asian American Population, 2010 to 2017
Single Ethnicity Reported4 Multiple Ethnicities Reported5
2010 2017 Percent
Change
2010 2017 Percent
Change
Bangladeshi 142,080 176,229 24% 147,300 185,622 26%
Bhutanese 18,814 23,904 27% 19,439 26,845 38.1%
Indian 2,918,807 4,094,539 40.3% 3,183,063 4,402,362 38.3%
Maldivian 102 N/A N/A 127 N/A N/A
Nepali 57,209 171,709 200.1% 59,490 182,385 206.6%
Pakistani 382,994 499,099 30.3% 409,163 544,640 33.1%
Riaz Haq said…
Legal #Immigration Is Plunging in #Trump Years. Number of people who obtained lawful permanent residence, besides refugees who entered the #UnitedStates in previous years, declined to 940,877 in the 2018 fiscal year from 1,063,289 in the 2016 fiscal year https://nyti.ms/2PjtCsx

Four years ago, legal immigration was at its highest level since 2006, when 1,266,129 people obtained lawful permanent residence in the United States.

And immigration experts say new policies will accelerate the trend. A report released on Monday by the foundation projected a 30 percent plunge in legal immigration by 2021 and a 35 percent dip in average annual growth of the U.S. labor force.

Trump administration officials have said that immigration into the country should be based on merit and skills, not the family-based system that for decades has allowed immigrants to bring their spouses and children to live with them.

------------


The rapid declines come as record-low unemployment has even the president’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, confiding to a gathering in Britain that “we are desperate, desperate for more people.”

But the doors have been blocked in multiple ways. Those fleeing violence or persecution have found asylum rules tightened and have been forced to wait in squalid camps in Mexico or sent to countries like Guatemala as their cases are adjudicated. People who have languished in displaced persons camps for years face an almost impossible refugee cap of 18,000 this year, down from the 110,000 that President Barack Obama set in 2016.


Family members hoping to travel legally from Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia were blocked by the president’s travel ban.

Increased vetting and additional in-person interviews have further winnowed foreign travelers. The number of visas issued to foreigners abroad looking to immigrate to the United States has declined by about 25 percent, to 462,422 in the 2019 fiscal year from 617,752 in 2016.

And two more tough policies have now taken effect. The expansion of Mr. Trump’s travel ban to six additional countries, including Africa’s most populous, Nigeria, began on Friday, and the wealth test, which effectively sets a wealth floor for would-be immigrants, started on Monday. Those will reshape immigration in the years to come, according to experts.

The travel and visa bans, soon to cover 13 countries, are almost sure to be reflected in immigration numbers in the near future. Of the average of more than 537,000 people abroad granted permanent residency from 2014 to 2016, including through a diversity lottery system, nearly 28,000, or 5 percent, would be blocked under the administration’s newly expanded travel restrictions, according to an analysis of State Department data.

But the wealth test — or public charge rule — may prove the most consequential change yet. Around two-thirds of the immigrants who obtained permanent legal status from 2012 to 2016 could be blocked from doing so under the new rule, which denies green cards to those who are likely to need public assistance, according to a study by the Migration Policy Institute.

Before Monday, immigrants were disqualified from permanent resident status only if they failed to demonstrate a household income above 125 percent of the federal poverty line, a threshold set by Congress. Now, immigration officials will weigh dozens of factors, like age, health, language skills, credit score and insurance as well as whether an applicant has previously used public benefits, to determine if the applicant is likely to use them in the future.

Riaz Haq said…
#Somalia has a huge global diaspora of over 2 million, over 10% of Somalia's population, many of them in #America & #Europe. Some of them are well-educated and highly skilled. #US #Muslim Congresswoman @IlhanMN is probably the most prominent among them. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/5-facts-about-the-global-somali-diaspora/

Here are five facts about the increasingly global Somali diaspora:

1Number of Somali migrants living abroadBetween 1990 and 2015, the total number of people born in Somalia but living outside the country more than doubled, from about 850,000 to 2 million. The share of Somali migrants abroad grew 136% between 1990 and 2015, according to United Nations estimates. At the same time, the population of Somalia itself has grown less quickly at 71%, increasing from 6.3 million in 1990 to 10.8 million in 2015. (The global Somali diaspora includes all migrants, both refugees and other migrants.)

2The number of Somali refugees displaced by ongoing conflict continues to rise. In 1990, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees estimated that about 470,000 of the total Somali global diaspora (about 55%) was living in a temporary refugee situation. By 2014, that number had grown to 1.1 million – still about 55% of all Somalis living outside of Somalia. Even though refugee camps are meant to be temporary, some Somali refugees have lived in camps located in neighboring countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia for decades.

3Somalia’s global diasporaAlmost two-thirds of the global Somali diaspora live in neighboring countries. At nearly half a million, Kenya hosts the largest number of Somali migrants (both refugees and nonrefugees) of any other country, according to UN estimates. Not far behind is Ethiopia with 440,000 Somali migrants. Combining Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen (across the Gulf of Aden), nearly two-thirds of the world’s Somali migrants lived in neighboring countries in 2015. At the same time, Somalis have become increasingly dispersed across the world. In 1990, an estimated 90% of Somali migrants lived in the four nations near Somalia, a share that dropped to 64% by 2015.

4An estimated 280,000 Somali immigrants live in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland, largely due to a steady flow of asylum seekers. The EU, Norway and Switzerland are home to 14% of the world’s Somali migrant population. Since 2008, these countries have received nearly 140,000 asylum applications from Somalis, according to the EU’s statistical agency Eurostat. The annual flow of Somali asylum seekers has held relatively steady since this benchmark year, but their destination countries within Europe have changed. In 2015, Germany and Sweden received about half of these Somali asylum seekers. In earlier years, the Netherlands and Italy were more common destinations for Somali asylum seekers.

5The U.S. Somali immigrant community continues to grow. Estimates from the United Nations indicate that the total number living in the U.S. was around 2,500 in 1990, but had grown to between 140,000 and 150,000 by 2015. In all, the U.S. is home to about 7% of the world’s Somali migrant population. Between fiscal years 2001 and 2015, the U.S. admitted more than 90,000 refugees from Somalia, according to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement. This refugee flow continues today, with nearly 9,000 refugees from Somalia entering the U.S. in fiscal 2015. The U.S. also approved 1,645 green cards in 2014 for Somalis sponsored by U.S. citizen immediate family members, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Riaz Haq said…
Pakistani-Americans in Biden Administration as of 1/25/21:

Ali Zaidi, Deputy Climate Change Advisor in the White House

Salman Ahmad, Director of Policy Planning in US State Department

Saima Mohsin. US Attorney in Detroit, MI in Department of Justice (DOJ)
Riaz Haq said…
Pakistani Americans are the eighth largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese American, Filipino American, Asian Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, Japanese Americans and Cambodian American communities. They are also the second largest South Asian American ethnic group, after Asian Indian Americans, and have one of the largest Muslim American ethnic groups in the United States, after the African American community.


https://geriatrics.stanford.edu/ethnomed/pakistani/introduction.html

Pakistan is ranked as the 12th highest source country for immigration into the United States. Compared to other heritage groups in the United States, Pakistani Americans are well educated with an estimated 60% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher professional degrees.

According to the 1990 U.S. Census, there were 81,691 individuals who identified themselves as of Pakistani origin. A U.S Census Bureau American community survey in conducted in 2005 showed that there has been a tremendous growth of the Pakistani American population with an estimated 210,000 (+/- 18,989) persons reporting a Pakistani descent who are currently living in the United States. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005)

The Census Bureau, however, excluded the population living in institutions, college dormitories, and other group quarters from all population groups. The Pakistani embassy estimates the number of people of Pakistani origin living in United States to be much higher, closer to 600,000. (Government of Pakistan, 2004, p. 30)

There are two distinct groups of Pakistani older adults in the United States:
1. Older adults who immigrate to the US
This group consists of the parents or grandparents who immigrated to the US to be reunited with their adult children and to spend their remaining days in the care of their children.

2. Adults who immigrate to the US and live here and become older adults
This group consists of the professionals and their nuclear families who immigrated to this country in the 1950s and 1970s. Their acculturation trajectory is very different from that of the first group as these subjects have often joined the American work force and lived here for many years and may be well acculturated into the American culture.

Given their degree of acculturation, this group’s communication skills, decision-making patterns and clinical adherence patterns are likely to differ significantly from those of the older adults who immigrate to the US, to be reunited with their adult children.

Preferred Cultural Terms
The preferred term for Americans with roots in Pakistan is Pakistani American, regardless of their province of origin in Pakistan.

Currently, an estimated 10% of Pakistani Americans are over the age of 55 and the estimated percentage of older adults (>65 years) is about 4.1 percent.

Between the periods of 1989–1992, an estimated 2,433 elders over the age of 60 years emigrated from Pakistan to the United States. In 2005, it was estimated that there were a total of 9342 Pakistani elders with the elderly men (53.3%) slightly outnumbering the women (46.7). About 95.9 % of the Pakistani elders were foreign-born (Young & Gu, 1995; US Census Bureau, 2005).

Riaz Haq said…
UMaine welcomes U.S. Department of State Global UGRAD-Pakistan student

https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2022/02/08/umaine-welcomes-u-s-department-of-state-global-ugrad-pakistan-student/

International student Afsah Pervaiz has joined the University of Maine community as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan). Pervaiz is an undergraduate student studying microbiology.

The Global UGRAD-Pakistan program, established in 2010, places Pakistani participants at U.S. colleges and universities for a semester of study abroad, leadership skills building and professional development. It is part of a broader U.S. Department of State effort to promote greater understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.

Through semester-long academic coursework, exploration of U.S. culture, participation in community service projects, and interactions with Americans in their host communities and campuses, Global UGRAD-Pakistan participants develop expertise in their academic fields and gain a broad and nuanced understanding of American culture and values. Global UGRAD-Pakistan participants enrich the lives of the Americans they meet by sharing their culture and bringing a global perspective to their host communities.

The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX. More information about the program is online.

https://www.irex.org/project/global-undergraduate-exchange-program-pakistan-global-ugrad-pakistan

The Global Undergraduate Exchange Program in Pakistan (Global UGRAD-Pakistan) provides emerging youth leaders from diverse communities across Pakistan with the opportunity to attend American universities and colleges for non-degree academic study.

During a semester of undergraduate classes and community engagement, participants strengthen their leadership, academic, and career-preparedness skills while building relationships with Americans. Participants return home as engaged leaders committed to tackling pressing challenges in their communities and fostering greater understanding between people of the United States and Pakistan.

Global UGRAD-Pakistan is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by IREX.
Riaz Haq said…
Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment has registered 88,353 emigrants
during March, 2022 for overseas employment in different countries.

https://www.finance.gov.pk/economic/economic_update_April_2022.pdf

Social Sector
− PPAF through its 24 Partner Organizations has disbursed 44,386 interest free
loans amounting to Rs 2.0 billion during the month of March 2022. Since inception
of interest free loan component, a total of 1,805,297 interest free loans amounting
to Rs 64.9 billion have been disbursed to the borrowers.
− Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment has registered 88,353 emigrants
during March, 2022 for overseas employment in different countries.
− Under Kamyab Jawan Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (PMKJ-YES) the amount
disbursed stands at Rs 36,846 million till February 2022 to the youth for
businesses
− Covid-19 pandemic has been successfully contained by the government with its
mass vaccination drive. The NCOC is dissolved keeping in view the persistently
falling positivity rate.
− The Ministry of FE&PT and Malala Fund signed a Letter of Understanding (LoU) to
work together on promotion of STEAM in girls high schools.
− Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has partnered
with the Easy-Paisa for facilitating students for digital fee-payments
Riaz Haq said…
Rabia Chaudry on her memoir 'Fatty Fatty Boom Boom'

https://www.npr.org/2022/11/06/1134608160/rabia-chaudry-on-her-memoir-fatty-fatty-boom-boom

Rabia Chaudry loved food — especially fast food — and struggled with her weight growing up as a Pakistani-American. She talks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about her memoir, "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom."

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

One of the ways we honor and cherish our families is through food. And that couldn't be more true for lawyer, podcaster and author Rabia Chaudry. Growing up in a Pakistani household, she's familiar with the sights and smells of spicy biryani and sticky treats like jalebis. But as Chaudry chronicles in her new memoir, "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom," sometimes, that love for culture and family can become fraught. Rabia Chaudry, who is best known for her work on the Adnan Syed case and host of the "Undisclosed" podcast, joins us now. Welcome.

RABIA CHAUDRY: Hi, Ayesha. How are you?

RASCOE: I'm fine. Thank you so much for joining us. So before we just dive into your story of family and food and everything in between, I want to acknowledge the end of a different chapter in your life, the freedom of Adnan Syed. Syed was imprisoned in 1999 for the murder of his girlfriend at the time. Through your help, his conviction has been overturned, and now he's free. How does it feel to be on the other side of that fight?

CHAUDRY: Oh, I mean, sometimes, I forget. Sometimes, I still - my eyes will fly open, at night and I'm like, wait. What's next? What appeal do we file next? And when you've been carrying that around, like, your entire adult life, it feels quite amazing to be able to finally put it down and check it off your list.

RASCOE: So tell me why with your memoir you wanted to tell the story of your life through the food that you grew up eating?

CHAUDRY: You know, anybody can write a memoir of their life in so many different ways, right? It can be about my career. It can be about advocacy work. It can be about so many things. And I decided that those were a lot of stories I told all the time. But there was a theme in my life that I never spoke about publicly but was - has been with me since childhood. And that is issues around body image and weight. And so "Fatty Fatty Boom Boom" was born, which was one of my childhood nicknames. But, you know, at the same time, I can't divorce it from, you know, this issue about body image and weight from - like, my love for food and especially Pakistani cuisine and my family stories around it that bring me so much joy.

RASCOE: So, I mean, the book really walks us through how you developed your relationship with food from a very young age. You know, talk to me about the food you were eating and how you felt about it.

CHAUDRY: Yeah. You know, so when I immigrated to the United States, I was 6 months old. And I was the firstborn. My parents were discovering this country in a lot of ways. And one of the ways was through its food. And in my parents' imagination, nothing could be stocked in an American grocery store that wouldn't actually be healthy and wholesome and better than the foods we had back home in Pakistan. So we just dove right in into all of the processed foods. And I grew up eating just so much Bologna and, like, you know, crackers and processed snacks a lot of us grew up with.

RASCOE: I mean, you talked about how, like, even as a baby, kind of to fatten you up...

CHAUDRY: Oh, yeah.

RASCOE: It was some miscommunication, but you were drinking, like, half and half. And then also...

CHAUDRY: Oh, yeah.
Riaz Haq said…
Brooklyn Democratic Machine Appoints Little Pakistan Residents to Party Posts Without Their Knowledge
A former party leader in the borough says ‘ghost appointees’ are not a new phenomenon.

https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/11/28/23476000/brooklyn-democratic-machine-ghost-appointments-little-pakistan

At least ten people living in Brooklyn’s Little Pakistan neighborhood were appointed to obscure but meaningful positions within the borough’s Democratic Party organization without their knowledge in October, an investigation by THE CITY has found.

The irregular appointments were for the “county committee,” a body of neighborhood representatives across the borough who vote on the party’s rules and its nominees for special elections in deliberations that have become flashpoints of heated intra-party rivalries.

In phone calls and conversations in person at homes, apartments and storefronts across Kensington, Brooklyn, numerous residents, nearly all of them South Asian immigrants, said they had no idea how they or their family members had ended up as county committee representatives for the 44th Assembly District. In some cases, people had moved out of the state months before they were appointed, residents of their former residences told THE CITY.

Zulfiqar Ali, 58, who runs a cash transfer business on Coney Island Avenue, was unaware of his appointment until THE CITY visited his shop last Thursday. Ali said he had “no idea” who slotted him into the position.

“I’m with Democrats,” the shopkeeper said. “‘But I never asked, requested them to put my name as recommended leader because, you know, I am busy.”

Farzana Shabbir, who lives in an apartment building a few blocks away, also learned of her appointment from THE CITY. Shabbir said she wanted to be removed from the county committee along with her adult daughter, who also confirmed that she was added to the committee without her knowledge.

“I’m not even aware of anything. This is the first time hearing from you,” Shabbir said. “I’m shocked. It’s disappointing though.”

Boatload of Proxies
The unsuspecting appointees THE CITY spoke with were part of a county committee nomination slate the Brooklyn Democratic Party establishment pushed through at a chaotic mass meeting in October. It was part of a successful effort to shut out a slate of would-be appointees assumed to be at odds with party leadership.

Given this context, some of the new appointees fear their names, and votes, could be exploited for intraparty machinations without their say.

“These people probably are not even voting. So then who is making these rules?” said Shawaza Majeed, a nonprofit worker who lives in Kensington and said that she also was appointed without her consent. “What the hell is happening?”

According to party insiders, for the county establishment to take advantage of these “ghost” appointees’ votes at contested meetings, party leaders need signed proxy forms transferring the unsuspecting committee members’ voting power to dependable allies.

“This is not a new thing. This has been going for decades,” said Diana Gonzalez, a former executive director of the Brooklyn Democratic Party. “Everybody knows County just wants to control meetings by walking in with a boatload of proxies.”

Gonzalez, now president of the dissident club, the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, argued the party establishment will stop at nothing to secure the votes of “ghost” appointees.

“It’s not just that they’re appointed without their knowledge. It’s that when the county party needs to collect proxies, other people are forging their signatures,” she said. “So the person who put that list together, his or her work isn’t done. They have to forge proxies for the next county committee meeting.”

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn Democratic Party declined requests for comment about the “ghost” members. In April, THE CITY reported that party members allied with the establishment forged at least five residents’ signatures in a bid to block rivals campaigning to join the county committee.
Riaz Haq said…
#US Congressman Jamaal Bowman, #Democrat, #NewYork, introduces resolution in House to designate March 23 as ‘Pakistan Day’. He initiated the “landmark resolution”. It is the first such resolution introduced in the US Congress. #PakistanDay2023 #Pakistan
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/us-congressman-introduces-resolution-in-house-to-designate-march-23-as-pakistan-day/articleshow/98982639.cms


The resolution emphasised the importance of recognising and paying tribute to those who foster ethnic pride and enhance the profile of cultural diversity, which strengthens the fabric of the US communities.

Bowman in fact stated that it was an honour for him to introduce the resolution and stressed the importance of standing with the people of Pakistan during their time of crisis.

Bowman expressed his solidarity with Pakistan, which has been hit by a natural disaster and conveyed his message of peace and love to the people of Pakistan.

The resolution also highlighted that Pakistan Day provides an excellent opportunity for all US residents to learn more about Pakistan’s rich heritage and foster an appreciation for its ancient culture among future generations.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Masood Khan, thanked Bowman for his initiative, which would bring the two countries and their people closer to each other.
Riaz Haq said…
Robert F. Kennedy’s Granddaughter Sarah and Her Husband Celebrate His Pakistani Heritage with Wedding Mehndi

https://people.com/jfk-granddaughter-sarah-kennedy-and-husband-host-traditional-wedding-mehndi-7734882

When planning their wedding weekend, it was important for the couple to combine Kennedy’s Catholic family traditions with Sulahry’s Muslim and Pakistani family traditions.

“We look forward to celebrating with close family and friends and sharing our relationships and cultures," Sarah said. "Our wedding is unique because we combine Sarah’s Irish catholic roots with Jam’s Muslim Pakistani roots to celebrate our love joyfully. We look forward to having so many of our friends and family experiencing our take on the traditional Mehndi event on Friday night."

That fusion of cultures even seeped into the ceremony’s color palette, with the bride and groom choosing pinks and oranges “inspired by the beautiful surroundings of the Cape Cod coast, Sulahry’s Pakistani culture, [our] love for the water, and the natural gardens and landscape of the Kennedy Compound.”

A true melding of tradition, the wedding was a “joyous celebration of love and unity.”
--------------

The Mehndi took place at JFK and Jackie's summer White House, where guests embraced traditional Pakistani culture

Congratulations are in order for Sarah Kennedy, granddaughter of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy, and her husband, Jam Sulahry!

Ahead of their Aug. 19 wedding, the couple paid homage to Sulahry’s Pakistani heritage with a traditional Mehndi on Friday evening.

Held in Hyannis Port, Mass., at what was known as "the summer White House" of former President John F. Kennedy (Robert's brother) and First Lady Jackie, the ceremony featured “choreographed Bollywood-style dances, henna tattoos, Pakistani desserts, and traditional Pakistani and Indian music.”


“Guests are encouraged to wear vibrant colors and patterns in traditional Pakistani clothing to embrace the experience fully,” Sarah told PEOPLE exclusively.

On Saturday, the pair said "I do" on the historic Kennedy Compound with the ceremony and cocktail hour held at the RFK House, named after Sarah's grandfather.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The reception was then hosted at the JFK House, named after the bride's great uncle, John F. Kennedy. The wedding was planned and designed by Kate Murtaugh Events & Design, with florals overseen by Beach Plum Floral Design.

“We chose to host our wedding weekend events at the Kennedy Compound and surrounding family homes because of how special it is to us as a backdrop to our lives,” Sarah, the daughter of Chris Kennedy, told PEOPLE. “It is where we have celebrated the great times and come together in heartbreaking times. It truly feels like coming home.”

While their large celebration just happened this weekend, the pair was actually legally wed on June 17, 2022, in a small Pakistani ceremony called a Nikah. That date is the 72nd anniversary of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy’s wedding date.
Riaz Haq said…
72,000 non immigrant visas issued in year 2022 to Pakistanis for USA.

In 2019 the number was 59,000

2020 and 2021 Covid time was 34 and 20k

So 2020 2021 2022 average is still around 40k which is lower than 2019 avg

I can sympathize with ppl who see lots of ppl leaving and feeling every one is leaving as number of ppl leaving is 3 times more than 2021 and twice as much as 2020 .

However fact is ppl are going as they have always done. In fact we haven't returned to pre Covid levels of Emigration and tourism outside Pakistan

Even in 1997 close to 50,000 ppl were issued non immigrant visa by US from Pakistan!

https://twitter.com/bilalgilani/status/1701139777494651226?s=20


-------------

Who’s Getting U.S. Immigrant Visas?
Last year, more than 285,000 U.S. immigrant visas were issued. Here’s a look how that is distributed across every country worldwide:

Search:
Rank Country Immigrant Visas Issued (2021)
#1 🇲🇽 Mexico 40,597
#2 🇨🇳 China 18,501
#3 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic 17,941
#4 🇵🇭 Philippines 15,862
#5 🇦🇫 Afghanistan 10,784
#6 🇻🇳 Vietnam 10,458
#7 🇮🇳 India 9,275
#8 🇸🇻 El Salvador 7,813
#9 🇵🇰 Pakistan 7,213
#10 🇧🇩 Bangladesh 5,503
Total 285,069

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-receiving-most-us-immigration-visas/

-----------------

H1 B visa from Pak to US

What is the H-1B Visa Category? The H-1B is a temporary (nonimmigrant) visa category that allows employers to petition for highly educated foreign professionals to work in “specialty occupations” that require at least a bachelor's degree or the equivalent.

In year 2022 , 1100 from Pakistan

166,000 from India !

If the exodus is 1100 ppl then we have nothing to fear

If 1100 is exodus than what is 166k

Why the one with 166k is rising India and one with 1100 failing Pakistan

https://x.com/bilalgilani/status/1701143387145945294?s=20
Riaz Haq said…
US records 16% increase in admission of Pakistani students

In the past two years, an overall 33% increase has been noted

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1129600-us-records-16-increase-in-admission-of-pakistani-students
A United States Department of State report recorded a 16% increase in the admission of Pakistani students to universities across the country.

The annual Open Doors Report for 2022-23 report, prepared in collaboration with the Institute of International Education (IIE), highlighted a substantial increase in the number of students from Pakistan studying in higher education institutions in the US.

"During 2022-2023, there were 10,164 Pakistani students, compared to 8,772 in the previous year, indicating an impressive 16% increase," the report read.

It also underscores the continued prominence of the US as the top destination for international study in the 2022-2023 academic year. Notably, the data reveals a significant milestone, with the US hosting over one million (1,057,188) international students during this period, marking a remarkable 12% increase from the previous academic year and representing the fastest growth rate in over four decades.

-----

International students in the U.S., by country of origin 2022/23 | Statista


10,164 students from Pakistan studying in America, ranking the country the 16th largest source of international students in the US

https://www.statista.com/statistics/233880/international-students-in-the-us-by-country-of-origin/

Riaz Haq said…
US Visa issuance 2018 to 2023: Non-immigrant visas showed a steady increase from 40,679 in 2018 to 80,852 in 2023, and while Immigrant visas fluctuated, they too increased from 10,114 in 2018 to 16,320 in 2023 – Gallup Pakistan Digital Analytics Report on Immigration and Non Immigration Visas to US from Pakistan

https://gallup.com.pk/post/36260#:~:text=US%20from%20Pakistan-,US%20Visa%20issuance%202018%20to%202023%3A%20Non%2Dimmigrant%20visas%20showed,Visas%20to%20US%20from%20Pakistan

Has there been an increase in influx from Pakistan to US between 2018 to 2023?

Non-immigrant visas showed a steady increase from 40,679 in 2018 to 80,852 in 2023. Conversely, immigrant visas fluctuated, with 10,114 in 2018 experiencing a noticeable drop in 2020 with only 3,750 visas issues, most likely due to Covid-19, however, they rebounded by 2023 with 16,320 immigrant visas issued within the year. These numbers reflect the dynamic nature of travel and immigration patterns over the past few years.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THIS PRESS RELEASE:

There was a fluctuating trend of non-immigration US visas issued for Pakistanis in 2023, with peaks in October (9,565) and December (7,483), and low points in July (4,795) and April (5,723), highlighting potential seasonal patterns or shifts in travel behaviour.
Across categories: “Business & pleasure” lead with 85.11% of the visas issued, followed by “Student” making up 3.67% of the visas issued, while “Temporary Workers” only made up 1.33% of the total Non-Immigration US Visas issued in 2023.
Immigrant US visa issuance for Pakistanis fluctuated month-to-month, reflecting varying demand.
Across categories: “Special immigrants” lead with 46.65%, closely followed by “Immediate relatives of US citizens” at 32.22%, while “Employment based” visas only made up 1.41% of the Immigrant US Visas issued in 2023, indicating a lesser reliance in work-related sponsorship.
Non-immigrant visa issuance showed a steady increase from 40,679 in 2018 to 80,852 in 2023.
Immigrant visa issuances fluctuated, with 10,114 visas issued in 2018, experiencing a noticeable drop in 2020 with only 3,750 visas issues, most likely due to Covid-19, however, they rebounded by 2023 with 16,320 immigrant visas issued within the year. These numbers reflect the dynamic nature of travel and immigration patterns over the past few years.
Examining the Non-Immigrant Visa issuances in Pakistan, Islamabad Consulate led with 52.2%, while the Karachi Consulate followed with 47.8%.

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