page_title: History of Filipino Americans
section_title: Immigration history
hierarchical_section_title: History of Filipino Americans / Immigration history
caption_attribution_description: English: The source for the data on this graph is based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2016 Yearbook Statistics
context_page_description: The history of Filipino Americans begins in the 16th century when Filipinos first arrived in what is now the United States. The first Filipinos came to what is now the United States due to the Philippines being part of New Spain. Until the 19th century, the Philippines continued to be geographically isolated from the rest of New Spain in the Americas, but maintained regular communication across the Pacific Ocean via the Manila galleon. Filipino seamen in the Americas settled in Louisiana, and Alta California, beginning in the 18th century. By the 19th century, Filipinos were living in the United States, fighting in the Battle of New Orleans and the American Civil War, with the first Filipino becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States before its end. In the final years of the 19th century, the United States went to war with Spain, ultimately annexing the Philippine Islands from Spain. Due to this the History of the Philippines merged with that of the United States, beginning with the three-year long Philippine-American War, which resulted in the defeat of the First Philippine Republic, and the attempted Americanization of the Philippines.
context_section_description: Migration patterns of immigration of Filipinos to the United States have been recognized as occurring in four significant waves. The first was connected to the period when the Philippines was part of New Spain and later the Spanish East Indies; Filipinos, via the Manila galleons, would migrate to North America.
  The first permanent settlement of Filipinos in the United States is at Louisiana specifically the independent community of Saint Malo. In the late 19th century, the author Ramon Reyes Lala became the first Filipino to naturalize and become an American citizen, settling in La Jolla 
  The second wave was during the period when the Philippines were a territory of the United States; as U.S. Nationals, Filipinos were unrestricted from immigrating to the US by the Immigration Act of 1917 that restricted other Asians. This wave of immigration has been referred to as the manong generation. Filipinos of this wave came for different reasons, but the majority were laborers, predominantly Ilocano and Visayans. This wave of immigration was distinct from other Asian Americans, due to American influences, and education, in the Philippines; therefore they did not see themselves as aliens when they immigrated to the United States. During the Great Depression, Filipino Americans were also affected, losing jobs, and being the target of race-based violence. This wave of immigration ended due to the Philippine Independence Act in 1934, which restricted immigration to 50 persons a year.
  Beginning in 1901, Filipinos were allowed to enlist in the United States Navy. While serving, Filipino Sailors would bring over their spouse from the Philippines, or marry a spouse in the United States, parenting and raising children who would be part of a distinct Navy-related Filipino American immigrant community. Before the end of World War I, Filipino sailors were allowed to serve in a number of ratings; however, due to a rules change during the interwar period, Filipino sailors were restricted to officers' stewards and mess attendants. Filipinos who immigrated to the United States, due to their military service, were exempt to quota restrictions placed on Filipino immigration at the time. This ended in 1946, following the independence of the Philippines from the United States, but resumed in 1947 due to language inserted into the Military Base Agreement between the United States and the Republic of the Philippines. In 1973, Admiral Zumwalt removed the restrictions on Filipino sailors, allowing them to enter any rate they qualified for; in 1976 there were about 17,000 Filipinos serving in the United States Navy. Navy based immigration of Philippine citizens stopped with the expiration of the military bases agreement in 1992.
  The third wave of immigration followed the events of World War II. Filipinos who had served in World War II were given the option of becoming U.S. citizens, and many took the opportunity, over 10,000 according to Barkan. Filipina war brides were allowed to immigrate to the United States due to the War Brides Act and Fiancée Act, with approximately 16,000 Filipinas entering the United States in the years following the war. This immigration was not limited to Filipinas and children; between 1946 and 1950, one Filipino groom was granted immigration under the War Brides Act. A source of immigration was opened up with the Luce–Celler Act of 1946, that gave the Philippines a quota of 100 persons a year; yet records show that 32,201 Filipinos immigrated between 1953 and 1965. This wave ended in 1965.
  The fourth and present wave of immigration began in 1965 with the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It ended national quotas, and provided an unlimited number of visas for family reunification. By the 1970s and 1980s the immigration of Filipina wives of service members reached annual rates of five to eight thousand. The Philippines became the largest source of legal immigration to the United States from Asia. Many Filipinas of this new wave of migration have migrated here as professionals due to a shortage in qualified
caption: This is a graph of the history of Filipino Immigration to the U.S. The source for this data is based on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security 2016 Yearbook Statistics.
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