Twice-Migrant Chinese and Indians in the United States: Their Origins and Attachment to Their Original Homeland

Abstract

China and India, the two most populated countries in the world, also have the largest overseas populations scattered all over the world. Following the global migration flow, many overseas Chinese and Indians have re-migrated from their diasporic communities to the United States in the post-1965 immigration era. This article, focusing on twice-migrant Chinese and Indians in the United States, has two interrelated objectives. First, it shows twice-migrant Chinese and Indians’ regions and countries of origin that roughly reflect their global dispersals. Second, it examines their attachment to their original homeland using two indicators: use of ethnic language (a Chinese or an Indian language) at home and their choice of ancestry. It uses the combined 2009-2011 American Community Surveys as the primary data source. This article is significant because by using an innovative data source, it describes the origins and ethnic attachment of the two largest twice-migrant groups in the United States.