Florida's Diverse Populations Continued

Florida's Diverse Origins (continued)

Jewish and Northern Influences

• The first northern tourists to visit Florida arrived by steamboat and steamship in the 1880s lured by the warm winter weather. By the turn of the 20th century, Florida resort owners were actively marketing to northern residents.
• One area particularly targeted was New York. Here, Jewish motel owners in Florida advertised to northern Jews. Upon visiting, many stayed and relocated other family members.
• In Miami Beach and other cities, Jews were able to establish hotels, restaurants and other businesses. Even though they were segregated from the Gentile population, this in fact made for stronger Jewish communities that continued to grow and thrive.
• Other New Yorkers, both Catholic and Protestant also relocated to the Sunshine State during the 1920s through the 1960s.
• By the 1970s, south Florida, and particularly Miami Beach, had a distinctive northern flavor.

“Snowbirds”

• Older immigrants who come to warm sunny Florida to visit in the winter months are referred to as "Snowbirds." These snowbirds normally originate in northern states, and Canada.
• Many snowbirds decide to stay. Factors other than the weather may play a significant role in turning the "snowbird" immigrants into permanent residents.
• Florida's lack of a state income tax, as well as many restricted communities which allow only retired persons, may play a large role in why Florida's largest immigrant group can be distinguished by their age, rather than their cultural origin. Source: US Census Bureau
  

Caribbean Migration

• In the last thirty years, Miami's demographic balance has shifted radically due to an unprecedented influx of immigrants from the Caribbean and Latin America.
• Between 1959 and 1980, over 625,000 Cubans fled into exile. In the eighties, hundreds of thousands of Haitians, Nicaraguans, and others from Caribbean and Latin American nations streamed into the area.
• By the end of the decade, additional thousands from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa quietly settled in Miami. Today Miamians are 21 percent black, 30 percent non-Hispanic white, and 49 percent Hispanic. (Page 101, Tina Bucuvalas, South Florida Folklife, Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1994.)
  

Mariel Boat Lift

• During 1980, from early April until late September, close to 125,000 Cuban migrants came to Florida as part of what was called the Mariel Boat Lift. Many of the boats were not seaworthy, were heavily overloaded, and were easily capsized. As a result, a number of would-be immigrants drowned, including 14 on one overloaded boat in May that year.
• As many as 1,387 boats required assistance from the United States Coast Guard.
• Short-term costs to the Coast Guard alone to maintain the operation were over $650,000 per week.
• Over 60% of the migrants were adult males, who, it was feared, were being released from Cuban prisons. While these reports were not confirmed, the rumors did create strong resentment toward the recent Cuban immigrants, particularly in South Florida, and heightened concern with regard to increases in crime.

Click the photograph to view the US Coast Guard Page on the Mariel Boat Lift. Click on the following link to view an article by David Card “The Impact of the Mariel Boat Lift on the Miami Labor Market.”

http://emlab.berkeley.edu/~card/papers/mariel-impact.pdf

Today’s Floridians

• Florida's diversity is becoming even greater today. According the U.S. Census Bureau, since 2000, Florida’s population has increased by more than 14%.

Compare this to other states: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/facts/state_data/

• Only a small percentage of Florida's population growth has come from its domestic population.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The majority of Florida's growth is attributed to people moving to Florida from other states, followed closely by people moving from other countries.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The percentage of Floridians born in other countries is increasing a rapid rate.
• The vast majority of Florida's foreign-born population comes from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Recent history has shown Cuba as having been the greatest contributor to Florida's population.
• The future of the state, while still indicating a high level of immigration from Cuba, indicates that Florida's immigration may no longer be heavily concentrated in the Caribbean.

• Florida is currently the 4th most populous state in the country.
• Projections show Florida will increase to the 3rd most populous state by 2011, edging past New York.
• Education, crime, and social welfare issues are sure to become crucial in the growth and development of the state.
• Issues such as these have Floridians very concerned about growth. It is ironic that in a state where almost 20% of the population was foreign-born, March 2009 Zogby Polling results of registered Florida voters found that an overwhelming majority believe that illegal immigration is harming the state.
• The majority of respondents stated that they would support a candidate who in turn supported immigration reduction.
• While a diverse population brings with it a rich resource of culture, it also brings new challenges to a rapidly growing state.