Costa Rican Americans

Costa Rican Americans
Total population
	140,152; 0.05% of the U.S. population (2012)
Regions with significant populations
	New York Metro Area, Greater Los Angeles, South Florida
Languages
	American English, Spanish
Religion
	Predominantly Roman Catholic, minority Protestant

Costa Rican Americans (estadounidenses de origen costarricense) are Americans of at least partial Costa Rican descent.

The Costa Rican population at the 2010 Census was 126,418. Costa Ricans are the fourth smallest Hispanic group in the United States and the smallest Central American population.

Costa Rican populations are prominent in the New York Metropolitan Area, especially in North Central New Jersey (Essex County, New Jersey, Passaic County, New Jersey, Somerset County, New Jersey, and Union County, New Jersey). Additional areas with significant Costa Rican residents include New York City, Suffolk County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. There are also sizable groups of Costa Ricans in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, South Florida metropolitan area, and Lincoln County, North Carolina.

History

Costa Rican immigration to the United States has historically been low, unlike patterns of immigration from many other Latin American countries, which tend to occur in waves in response to historical events like civil war, political conflict, or severe economic conditions.^[2] Costa Rica has not experienced any significant political disturbances since the Costa Rican Civil War in 1948. Therefore, most migration to the United States from Costa Rica is based on economic factors^[3] and occurs slowly when compared to migration from the rest of Latin America.^[2] Costa Rican immigration to the United States, as a percentage of total immigration from Central America, has been declining since 1960. In the period from 1960 to 2009, total immigration from Costa Rica to the United States represented only 3 percent of total immigration from Central America over the same period.^[4] Lower prices and higher wages in the United States serve as strong motivators for Costa Ricans to emigrate.^[3] As with many other groups of immigrants, Costa Ricans send roughly $650 million in remittances every year to support their families in Costa Rica.^[3]

The largest communities of Costa Ricans in the United States exist in California, Texas, Florida, and the New York metropolitan area, including parts of New Jersey, the state with the highest percentage of individuals identifying as Costa Rican. The town of Bound Brook, New Jersey has the highest percentage of Costa Ricans at 11.82 percent. Reasons for the phenomenon of Costa Rican immigration to New Jersey specifically are unclear, but some, including Costa Rican consulate-general Ana Villalobos and Costa Rican ambassador to the United States Roman Macaya, have posited that this immigration occurs along existing familial ties beginning with the first Costa Rican immigrants to the United States. Villalobos described her understanding of the immigration:

I have no idea why so many Costa Ricans go to Bound Brook. I've been trying to figure it out. It's not like there's a lot of jobs there. I guess a group of people came there, the people of Bound Brook were friendly to them and they [the Costa Ricans] told their friends.^[3]

Former President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis recognized the special case of Costa Ricans in Bound Brook when he visited the town in 2014 to celebrate Costa Rica's independence while in the United States for a United Nations conference.^[5]

Naturalization rates among Costa Ricans have remained fairly steady since 2000. In 2000, 1,895 individuals who identified their country of origin as Costa Rica became naturalized citizens of the United States. In 2017, there were 1,720 individuals of the same category who became naturalized.^[6]^[7] In the period from 2000 to 2009, 45.7 percent of all Costa Rican immigrants to the United States became naturalized citizens, close to the average for most immigrant groups.^[4] In 2000, 1,324 Costa Ricans were admitted to the United States as lawful permanent residents. In 2017, 2,184 individuals of the same category were admitted.^[6]^[8]

Figures from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service suggest that illegal immigration from Costa Rica tends to be low.^[2] However, according to reporting from the Washington Post, illegal immigrants do travel along connections set up by businesses looking to take advantage of cheap undocumented labor. For example, The Trump Organization funneled illegal Costa Rican immigrants to Bedminster, New Jersey, where they worked on golf courses in various capacities along with illegal immigrants from other Latin American countries.^[9]

Unlike other Latin American groups, like Mexican-Americans and Puerto Ricans, which tend to congregate in neighborhoods frequently referred to as barrios,^[2] Costa Ricans assimilate into Anglo-American and/or other Latino cultures. Assimilation is common due in part to low absolute numbers of Costa Rican immigrants in the United States, so the formation of communities that are uniquely Costa Rican in character is uncommon.^[2]

Culture

Costa Ricans tend to either blend in the English-speaking population or form working and friendly relationships with other Hispanics, celebrating with them when the occasion arises. Most of Costa Rican Americans maintain their heritage, but they also tend to integrate and adjust to their environment quickly, especially if they want to join a church or if they have children in the public school system. If both parents speak Spanish, chances are that the children will be raised bilingually.^[2]

However, if only one parent speaks Spanish, the children usually grow up speaking only English. Although Costa Ricans did not suffer ethnic persecution during the colonial period, Costa Ricans have significant national pride. They often share stories of the historical battle of Rivas in 1856. ^[2]

Demographics

Most of Costa Ricans who live in the US live in California, Florida, Texas, and the New York City / New Jersey area. The areas with the largest Costa Rican populations, in according to latter reports, are Los Angeles and its surrounding areas (23,625); New York City area (including parts of Connecticut, New Jersey, and Long Island (12,985)); Miami and surrounding areas (Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale) (9,987); and in the Houston and Galveston area of Texas (2,534).

There is a significant Costa Rican American population in the Chicago, Illinois, and Gary, Indiana, areas (1,845).

The geographical preferences of Costa Ricans become evident in the statistics from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as consistent with the findings of the 1990 census.