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Research shows African immigrants are more educated than many Americans

Reactions have trailed derogatory comments allegedly made by U.S President Donald Trump about African Nations with African Leaders calling for an apology from the White House.

Lots of the news from sub-Saharan Africa is about war, famine, poverty or political upheaval, which apparently makes many Americans, including President Trump, think most Africans who immigrate to the United States are poorly educated and desperate.

But a senior policy analyst and co-author of a report on sub-Saharan African immigrants in the U.S., at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, Jeanne Batalova, described African immigrants as, “a population that’s very diverse in its educational, economic and English proficiency profile people came for a variety of reasons and at various times.”

According to the research, “on average, African immigrants are better educated than people born in the U.S. or the immigrant population as a whole.”

While the numbers of Africans are small compared to other immigrant groups, it, however, has risen significantly in recent years.

The U.S. immigrant population from sub-Saharan Africa (49 countries with a total population of more than 1.1 billion) grew from 723,000 to more than 1.7 million between 2010 and 2015, (according to a new report by New American Economy, a Washington-based research and advocacy group), yet, it makes up just half a percent of the U.S. population.

The U.S. surveys and Census Bureau data report found that the majority came from five countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa.

How immigrants accessed the U.S

The Refugee Act of 1980 made it easier for people fleeing war zones to resettle in the U.S., with thousands of refugees from Somalia, Sudan, and Congo. About 22% of African immigrants are refugees, according to a research at New American Economy.

Also, the diversity visa program which is also known as the ‘visa lottery’, opened doors to immigrants from more peaceful places.

Of the sub-Saharan immigrants who have become legal permanent residents, 17% came through the program, in comparison to 5% of the total U.S. immigrant population.

Applicants to the program must have completed the equivalent of a U.S. high school education or have at least two years of recent experience in any number of occupations, including accountant, computer support specialist, and orthodontist.

As a result, the influx includes many immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa who are highly skilled professionals.

Batalova’s research also discovered that of the 1.4 million aged 25 and above, 41% have a bachelor’s degree, compared to 30% of all immigrants and 32% of the U.S.-born population. Of the 19,000 U.S. immigrants from Norway, a country Trump reportedly told lawmakers is a good source of immigrants, 38% have college educations.

The New American Economy study shows that 1 in 3 of these undergraduate degrees was focused on science, technology, engineering and math “training heavily in demand by today’s employers.”

Also, African immigrants were significantly more likely to have graduate degrees a total of 16% had a master’s degree, medical degree, law degree or a doctorate, compared to 11% of the U.S.-born population.

“Overwhelmingly the evidence shows that African immigrants make a significant, positive economic contribution to the U.S. economy,” both at a national level and in districts where they are concentrated.

“They contribute more than $10.1 billion in federal taxes, $4.7 billion in state and local taxes, and most importantly, they have significant economic clout to the point of $40.3 billion in spending power.”

The biggest beneficiary is Texas, where their spending power is $4.7 billion, followed by California, Maryland, New York and Georgia.

A report last year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that immigrants in general, had little or no negative effect on overall wages or employment levels for U.S.-born workers, and higher-skilled immigrants in fields such as technology and science, having a positive influence on the U.S. labour force.

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