African Immigrants in DC

D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. has introduced a bill to create a city Office on African Affairs that would focus on a growing immigrant group that has put its mark on the District by operating restaurants, cabs and other professional services. The District has similar offices for Latino and for Asian and Pacific Islander residents. The immigrant population overall has expanded dramatically in recent years, with roughly one in every eight D.C. residents born overseas.

The District’s African-born population grew about 40 percent in the 1990s, reaching 9,208 by the 2000 Census. Even with that growth, African natives accounted for only about 12.5 percent of the city’s foreign-born population. The biggest groups were Latinos, who made up about half of the city’s immigrants, followed by Europeans and Asians, who each accounted for about 17 percent, according to the report. But thousands of other African immigrants commute into the city to work each week as taxi drivers, parking lot attendants, restaurateurs and white-collar professionals.

Source: Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2005

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