FILIPINOS CAME TO THE UNITES STATES DURING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IN THREE GENERAL WAVES. THE EARLIEST, STARTING IN 1903 AND LASTING UNTIL WORLD WAR 2, IT BROUGHT MANY YOUNG MEN WHO CAME IN SEARCH OF UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGIATE EDUCATION AND THEN PLANNED TO RETURN TO THE ISLANDS. THE SECOND INFLUX LASTED FROM 1907 TO THE 1930"S WHEN WORKERS WENT TO HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. SURPLUS LABOR AND UNEMPLOYMENT THERE PUT A BRAKE ON THIS IMMIGRATION. DURING THE 1920"S FILIPINOS ALSO ARRIVED IN PACIFIC COAST STATES FROM THE PHILLIPINES AND THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. AFTER 1934, WITH IMMIGRATION REGULATED , WEST COAST PORTS HAD VIRTUALLY NO NEW ARRIVALS. BETWEEN 1965 AND 1974, FILIPINO IMMIGRATION INCREASED 949.7 PERCENT AS 210,269 IMMIGRANTS ENTERED THE U.S. IN THAT TEN YEAR PERIOD. THE 1965 IMMIGRATION ACT CHANGED COMPLETELY FILIPINO IMMIGARTION PATTERNS. DURING THESE YEARS, THGIS THIRD WAVE PROVIDED THE UNITED STATES WITH MORE NEWCOMERS THAN ANY OTHER NATION, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MEXICO. .
DURING WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT"S ADNINISTARTION AS THE PHILIPINES FIRST CIVIL GOVENOR (1901-03), EDUCATIONAL PLANS CALLED FOR SENDING PROMISING YOUNG FILIPINOS TO THE UNITED STATES. FOR ABOUT TWENTY YEARS FILIPINO STUDENTS WERE VIEWED BY THESE AMERICANS AS DISCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY. CATAPUSAN A FORMER FILIPINO STUDENT DURING THE TIME REPORTED THAT BETWEEN 1910 AND 1938 ALMOST FOURTENN THOUSAND FILIPINOS ENROLLED IN A VARIETY OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. BUT MANY FACTORS, INCLUDING IN THE PARTICULAR HIGH COST OF LIVING, PREVENTED MANY STUDENTS FROM SUCEEDING AND FORCED THEM TO DRIFT INTO UNSKILLED WORK.
THE BULK OF THE FILIPINO IMMIGRATION WAS BETWEEN 1907 AND 1935 WAS COMPRISED OF YOUNG MALES UNDER THE AGE OF THIRTY. THEIR MIGRATION TO ALASKA, HAWAII, AND OTHER WESTERN STATES CONTRIBUTED TO THE POOL OF CHEAP, UNSKILLED LABOR.
IN 1910, 2,767 FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS RESIDED IN THE UNITED STATES , BUT ONLY 406 LIVED OUTSIDE OF HAWAII.