Bangladeshi Americans

Immigration History

Immigration to the United States from the area of British India that constitutes present-day Bangladesh (with an estimated 2007 population of 149 million people) began in 1887, but the numbers were very small until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which took full effect in 1968. This act eliminated the country of origin as a qualification for obtaining an immigration visa and allowed Asians to immigrate to the United States. Many Bangladeshis who settled in the United States prior to the independence of the country in 1971 fled Bangladesh to avoid political persecution or, in the case of religious minorities, to avoid religious discrimination. This first wave of immigrants was generally composed of professionals, people who were well educated and affluent. During this period, all Bengali Americans were considered either Indian Americans or Pakistani Americans.

The second wave of Bangladeshi immigrants to the United States began after independence in 1971. It has been reported that only 154 Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States in 1973. By 1980, there were an estimated 3,500 Bangladeshis in the United States, 200 of whom had already become U.S. citizens. Between 1982 and 1992, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization service legally admitted 28,850 Bangladeshis.

Most of the immigrants arriving during the 1970s and 1980s were younger males who were leaving hard economic and political times behind. Overpopulation and widespread poverty were the two primary reasons for emigration from Bangladesh at that time. A third of these immigrants had professional training, and a considerable number had marketable skills. The early immigrants were typically employed in respectable positions in both the public and private sectors. About half of these immigrants were already married when they immigrated, with families awaiting immigration once the spouse was settled.

A steady flow of sizable numbers of Bangladeshi immigrants began after the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990. One important component of this act was the introduction of the diversity visa (DV), in what has come to be called the “lottery” visa program. Under this program, the United States allowed more than 6,000 Bangladeshis entry into the country as immigrants every year beginning in the early 1990s. In recent years, this number has been reduced to nearly 4,000.

Along with documented immigrants, this flow also brought undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. The number of Bangladeshis entering illegally into the United States decreased remarkably after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Nonetheless, some estimates suggest that more than 50,000 undocumented Bangladeshis are now living in metropolitan New York City alone. Recent immigrants from Bangladesh also include groups of tribal people from [Page 133]the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, who are culturally distinct from the Bengalis of Bangladesh; they left Bangladesh to escape repression by the government.

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