Pakistani Americans are citizens of the United States who have full or partial ancestry from Pakistan, or more simply, Pakistanis in America. They can be from different ethnic groups in Pakistan like Punjabi, Saraiki, Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun, Kashmiri or Muhajir/Urdu-speaking people. The term may also refer to people who also hold a dual Pakistani and U.S. citizenship. Educational attainment level and household income are much higher in the Pakistani-American diaspora compared to the U.S. population at large. In 2019, there were an estimated 554,202 self-identified Pakistani Americans, representing about 0.187% of the U.S. population, and about 2.50% of Asian Americans; more specifically, around 8% of South Asian Americans.
History in the United States
Immigrants from modern-day Pakistan (formerly British India) had been immigrating to America as early as the nineteenth century, working in agriculture, logging, and mining in the western states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The passage of the Luce-Celler Act of 1946 allowed these immigrants to acquire U.S. citizenship through naturalization. Between 1947 and 1965, only 2,500 Pakistani immigrants entered the United States; most of them were students who chose to settle in the U.S. after graduating from American universities, according to reports from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. This marked the beginning of a distinct Pakistani community in America. However, after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the INS Act of 1965 into law, eliminating per-country immigration quotas and introducing immigration on the basis of professional experience and education, the number of Pakistanis immigrating to the U.S. increased dramatically. As of the 1990 U.S. Census, the Pakistani-American population was 100,000. By 2005, that figured more than doubled to 210,000. In 2023, Monroe Township High School, in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, launched the first high school cricket team in New Jersey. In Texas, Zain Haq, launched the first ever official High School Cricket League with the formation of the San Antonio High School Cricket Association (SAHSCA).
Self-identity
In a study on the ethnic identification of South Asian Americans based on the 1990 U.S. Census, a sample of 299 Pakistanis living in the United States showed that, while 6.7% identified as white and 0.3% identified as black, a grand majority identified as Asian.