About Pakistani Americans
The Ties That Bind is one of the first ever in-depth studies of the Pakistani American community's connectivity to Pakistan; the causes and issues to which Pakistani Americans give; and concerns and obstacles related to giving back to Pakistan. The report will be of interest to policymakers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, non-profit organizations, and community members who seek to better understand how the Pakistani American community can positively shape socio-economic development in Pakistan.
64% of Pakistani Americans have lived in the United States for over 10 years.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed The Immigration and Nationality Act on October 2, 1965
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The first wave of immigrants from present-day Pakistan migrated to the United States between 1893 and 1917 and settled in California as contract laborers.
The second wave arrived after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, when the United States opened up immigration quotas for the new South Asian states formed after the end of the British empire in the region.
Despite movement, the numbers remained low, reinforced by national origin quotas in place since the 1920s which limited migration from non-European countries.
The 1965 U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act introduced a new immigration scheme based on employment preferences.
As a result, the wave of Pakistani immigrants after 1965 overwhelmingly included physicians, engineers, and other professionals.
Later in the 1980s, more Pakistanis entered the country through family-sponsored preferences.
Over 75% of Pakistani migration to the United States since 1965 occurred between 1990 and 2009, facilitated by establishment of the U.S. Diversity Program in 1990.
In 2017, Pakistan received over $1.3 billion in remittances from the United States.
New York-based artist Shahzia Sikander specializes in Persian and Indian miniature painting.
Pakistani Americans maintain strong connections to Pakistan through charitable giving as well as providing financial support to family still living in Pakistan.
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Portrait of a Giving Community: Philanthropy by the Pakistani American Diaspora by Adil Najam
The largest numbers of Pakistani Americans live in New York, Texas, and California.
In 1947, western and eastern portions of the British Empire in South Asia became the independent state of Pakistan.
The community is concentrated in the major population centers of New York City, Washington DC, Houston, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.
Getting an accurate count of Pakistani Americans remains difficult to assess. Latest Figures from the U.S. census place the community at roughly 550,000, but informal estimates go up to over 1 million.
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“Pakistanis in the US Fact Sheet” - Pew Global Research
72% of Pakistani Americans speak English at home.
Sadaf Jaffer, Mayor of Montgomery Township in New Jersey, is the first female Pakistani American mayor in U.S. history. Jaffer is a post-doctoral research associate at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Many Pakistanis who migrated to the United States spoke English before they arrived. Because of the history of British colonialism in South Asia, English is taught in schools in Pakistan and spoken regularly among the formally educated population.
Urdu and English are the official languages of Pakistan, but over 70 languages are spoken in the country.
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35% live in multigenerational households.
Pakistani American actor Kumail Nanjiani was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the film “The Big Sick.” Photo credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America
In the United States, multigenerational households remain a common practice in the community as well as in other Asian diasporas.
The Pakistani diaspora worldwide maintains a strong extended-family tradition, with grandparents often living in the same household as their grandchildren.
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Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi
The people of the United States and Pakistan share over seven decades of understanding.
For over 70 years, the United States and Pakistan have engaged in thousands of exchanges, from government and economic to cultural and educational, that have shaped our understanding of one another. By weaving the stories of peoples, cultures, and governments, the APF Timeline Project shares the story of how the Pakistani American community came to be, and how its two parent nations have shaped its experiences along the way.
Fill out this form if you would like to suggest an entry for the timeline project.