Marshallese Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

of Marshallese descent or

Marshallese people The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. Ethno ...

naturalized in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. According to the 2010 census, 22,434 people of Marshallese origin lived in the United States at that time, though that number has grown significantly over the last decade. A 2018 estimate put the number at approximately 30,000, while the 2020 census found a population of 47,300.T01001 , TOTAL POPULATION, Census.gov, United States Bureau of the Census, 2020
/ref> The United States has the highest concentration of Marshallese people outside the Marshall Islands. Most of these Marshallese people live in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, with significant populations in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

.Van der Geest, K., Burkett, M., Fitzpatrick, J., Stege M. & Wheeler, B. (2019)
Marshallese perspectives on migration in the context of climate change.
IOM Policy Brief 5 (1): 1–12.

History

In 1986, the Marshall Islands and the United States established an agreement called the

Compact of Free Association The Compacts of Free Association (COFA) are international agreements establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia ( ...

, according to which the archipelago attained its full sovereignty. The treaty allows United States to provide defense, "social services and other benefits to the Marshall Islands" in exchange for military bases on the islands. Under this treaty, Marshall Islanders can also travel and work in United States without having visas,Marshallese support industry in Northwest Arkansas
.Consulted on 25 October 2013, to 12:50 am.
Consulted on 25 October 2013, to 1:15 am. although they must be legal permanent residents and go through the same naturalization process equal to that of all other nationalities. Because they have the legal right to travel and work in the U.S., few Marshallese immigrants seek or attain citizenship. Immigration from the Marshall Islands to the United States first began in the 1980s. Additionally, when numerous layoffs occurred in the Marshall Islands in 2000, there was a second wave of migration of Marshallese to the U.S. Most have emigrated to

and

when

Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of broiler industry, chicken, beef, and pork after JBS ...

, the largest poultry meat distributor in the world, employed numerous Marshallese people on the islands. Therefore many Marshallese employees were transferred and relocated to

Springdale, Arkansas Springdale is a city in Washington County, Arkansas, Washington and Benton County, Arkansas, Benton counties in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city had a population of 84,161 at the 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns in Arkan ...

, to the corporate headquarters of Tyson Foods. John Moody, the first Marshallese settler in Arkansas, came there in the 1980s. Many Marshallese emigrate to the United States to give their children an education, while other Marshalleses seek better working conditions or a better health system than the one found in their country. Furthermore, since 1996 many Marshallese children have been adopted by American parents. Between 1996 and 1999, over 500 Marshallese children were adopted by American families. These adoptions are a result of social marginalization and economic poverty suffered by the population of the archipelago. ADOPTION AND AGENCY: American Adoptions of Marshallese Children
Consulted on 25 October 2013, to 13:30 pm. Adoptions were further driven by unethical trafficking schemes for which some perpetrators are facing prosecution. Attorney in Marshallese adoption scheme to head to prison
Consulted on 30 April 2021, to 10:52 am.

Demography

Most Marshallese Americans reside in Hawaii and Arkansas. In 2020 it is estimated that some 15,000 Marshallese call Arkansas home. Most reside in Washington County, mainly in Springdale, home of

where many of them work. The 2020 US Census found that were 8,677 living in Hawaii at the time. Other significant Marshallese populations include Spokane (Washington) and Costa Mesa (California). According to Karen Morrison, director of Spokane’s Odyssey World International, a nonprofit that provides services for immigrants,

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest c ...

is home of a community of 2,400 or 3,000 people of Marshallese origin. In 2006 Spokane-area schools had a lot of Marshallese students, so that "Spokane Public Schools has 370 students whose primary language is Marshallese"; these students form the second group, more numerous than the Spanish-speaking students (360 people) and following the Russian-speaking students (530 people) in these schools (in reference to non-English languages).The Spokesman Review: Marshallese making a new life in Spokane
Posted on March 4, 2012. Consulted on 26 October 2013, to 13:15 pm. The houses of the Marshallese of the USA house several generations of the same familyEncyclopedia of Arkansas: Marshallese
and are sparsely furnished. In general terms, the population (which now has a western diet) has been adversely affected by

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

, and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Many Marshallese are

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

. The Marshallese Bible study group at Cross Church, a Baptist congregation in Springdale, has grown quickly in recent years, although the service is done mostly in English, since the church lacks ministers who speak fluent Marshallese. Children born in the United States to Marshallese families have dual citizenship.

Notable people

Anju Jason Anju Jason (born November 21, 1987) is a Marshallese taekwondo practitioner. Born in the Marshall Islands, he would move to Hawaii at the age of six with his sister. Three years later, Anju would see a flier advertising a taekwondo academy and e ...

, taekwondo practitioner * Todd Lyght, American football player *

Haley Nemra Haley Nicole Nemra (born October 4, 1989) is an American-born Marshallese track athlete from Marysville, Washington. She was the first woman to represent the Marshall Islands at the Olympics. She represented her country at the 2008 Summer Olym ...

, middle-distance runner *

Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner is a poet and Individual and political action on climate change, climate change activist from the Marshall Islands. Early life Jetn̄il-Kijiner was born in the Marshall Islands and raised in Hawaii. Her mother is Hilda Hei ...

, poet and

climate change activist Individual action on climate change describes the personal choices that everyone can make to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their lifestyles and catalyze climate action. These actions can focus directly on how choices create emissions, such ...

United States Nuclear Testing

During the first 10 years of the Cold War, the United States detonated nearly seventy nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands. The radiation from these bombs were covered by a concrete dome,

Runit Dome Runit Island () is one of forty islands of the Enewetak Atoll of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is the site of a radioactive waste repository left by the United States after it conducted a series of nuclear tests on Enewet ...

, to protect the community from nuclear waste. Since being built, the interior of the dome has been leaking which has raised concerns for Marshallese locals. The effects of the nuclear testing resulted in destruction of entire islands, birth defects, and health problems of local residents, including cancer. Until recently, (2022), the United States has not offered services or apologies to the Marshallese community and has not aided in their recovery since 1986 when the first compact required the U.S. to place $150 million into a trust fund for nuclear-related claims.

has written many poems to highlight this mistreatment of the Marshallese community. They filme
Rise
standing on Runit Dome and speaking about their community's struggles.

References

External links

Marshall Islanders: Migration Patterns and Health-Care Challenges

{{Pacific Islander Americans American people of Marshallese descent Marshallese diaspora in the United States Oceanian diaspora in the United States