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“Back Home, People Say America is Heaven”: Pre-Migration Expectations and Post-Migration Adjustment for Liberians in Pittsburgh

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Abstract

The African-born population in the United States is now the immigrant group growing at the fastest rate, yet African immigrants are often overlooked in studies of immigrant incorporation and social adjustment. One factor negatively impacting immigrant adjustment is a lack of congruence between pre-migration expectations and post-migration realities. Existing academic literature on this topic largely overlooks African immigrants with the exception of refugees, and current studies of Liberians in the United States also focus overwhelmingly on refugees. This article reorients the discussion of African immigrant incorporation by exploring such issues with a sample of Liberian immigrants in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area who arrived with a range of visa types. Using the results of five focus groups (N = 31), I outline shared unrealistic expectations of abundant wealth and development, an easier life, and Americans having extensive knowledge about Africa. I also examine often unanticipated challenges such as communication issues, negative interactions (including racism and African origin prejudice), cultural differences, problems finding jobs and adjusting to American work culture, and high expectations from home, including remittances. The results suggest that non-refugee immigrants face many of the same challenges as refugees and can benefit from information and resources fostering more successful integration.

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Notes

  1. Bernadette Ludwig does recognize that there is a great diversity of visa types within the Liberian immigrant community; however, her article focuses specifically on refugees and people’s engagement with “refugee” as a concept and category.

  2. Some participants chose multiple ethnic groups (Table 1).

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my research assistants Siatta Brown (formerly Dennis) and Loretta Agyemang for their help with this project. I also extend my gratitude to Shanesha Brooks-Tatum for feedback on the manuscript and to Grace Okrah, Patricia van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy, and Lara Pardo for their encouragement and comments. I also must thank the members of the Liberian Community Association of Greater Pittsburgh for all of their support and participation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Africana Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 4160 Wesley W. Posvar Hall, 230 South Bouquet Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260, USA

    Yolanda Covington-Ward

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  1. Yolanda Covington-Ward
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Correspondence to Yolanda Covington-Ward.

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This study was approved by the University of Pittsburgh Institutional Review Board. All participants gave informed consent.

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Pittsburgh through a Central Research Development Fund grant (CRDF).

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that she has no conflict of interest.

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Covington-Ward, Y. “Back Home, People Say America is Heaven”: Pre-Migration Expectations and Post-Migration Adjustment for Liberians in Pittsburgh. Int. Migration & Integration 18, 1013–1032 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-017-0511-7

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