Ecuadorian Americans

Ecuadorian Americans (ecuatorio-americanos, norteamericanos de origen ecuatoriano or estadounidenses de origen ecuatoriano) are Americans of full or partial Ecuadorian ancestry. Ecuadorian Americans can be Mestizo, White, Afro-Ecuadorian, Indigenous, Mulato, or Zambo. Some Ecuadorians are also of Lebanese, Sephardic and Japanese descent.

History
Until the 1960s, very few Ecuadorians migrated to the United States. Between the years of 1930 to 1959, 11,025 Ecuadorians received lawful permanent resident status in the United States. From here, slow trickles of emigration continued. Trade relations with and seasonal migration to New York became an avenue for emigration in the 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s, several waves of migration started. Most Ecuadorian immigration to the United States has occurred since the early 1970s. This emigration was because of several reasons: The first of them was that United States immigration law changed.

Before 1965, national quotas on immigrants favored more European immigration than Latin American immigration. After 1965, changes in immigration law made it easier for Latin Americans and other foreign groups to emigrate to United States. In addition, the price of air travel lowered making immigration more accessible to Latin Americans. They were drawn to the U.S. for economic opportunities and political freedoms.

Another factor in Ecuadorian emigration was the 1964 Ecuadorian land reform. This improved the lives of many Ecuadorian poor, but also had far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. Many new small landowners were forced to sell their land. Many landowners abandoned their land and migrated to countries like Spain, Venezuela, and the United States. In the early 1980s, Ecuadorian emigration also saw a spike as oil prices fell, and again emigration peaked in the political turmoil of 1996-97 and national banking crisis of 1998-99. In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act legalized the status of 16,292 Ecuadorians in the United States, which became a major source of family-sponsored Ecuadorian migration to the country

Most immigrants who live in the United States send money home. Many immigrants get American citizenship, others simply are legalized, while other groups live illegally, crossing the border from Mexico or entering by boat from Puerto Rico. Ecuadorian Americans come from every part of Ecuador. During the 1970s, most of the Ecuadorians came from the northern and central highlands, including the area around Quito.

In the 1980s, many Ecuadorians came from the coast. In the 1990s, most of them came from the southern highlands, near the border with Peru. The majority of Ecuadorian immigrants emigrate into New York City and its surrounding suburbs. The 1990 census recorded that 60 percent of Ecuadorians living in the United States live in the New York City Metropolitan Area; while another 10% live in Miami.

Ecuadorian Return Migration
In 2008, the Great World Recession made for a decline in Ecuadorian emigration. This event also hindered two of Ecuador’s major cash flows: remittances and exports. To aid in the country's recovery, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa implemented the Welcome Home Plan. The plan fights unemployment and serves to boost the economy by encouraging migrants to come home through various ways, including aiding returnees in their own business ventures.

Demographics
Many Ecuadorians in the United States have settled in cities such as New York City (most residing in various areas of Queens, as well as in Bushwick, Brooklyn and Fordham, Bronx); Ossining, New York; Hudson, New York; Washington Heights, Manhattan; Danbury, Connecticut; Jersey City, New Jersey; Union City, New Jersey; Newark, New Jersey; Plainfield, New Jersey; Chicago, Illinois; Orlando, Florida; Tampa, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Francisco, California; Los Angeles, California; and Cleveland, Ohio.

Queens County's percentage of Ecuadorians is about 4.7%, and it has the largest Ecuadorian community of any county in New York and in the United States, numbering just about 101,000 in 2010. Ecuadorians are the largest South American Latino group in New York City as well as in the State of New York.

Ecuadorians are the fourth largest Latino group in New York after Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans. Ecuadorians also constitute Queens County's largest Latino group. Another New York group of Ecuadorians live in the Bronx, in the Morris Heights and Highbridge neighborhoods north of Yankee Stadium. Still other Ecuadorian neighborhoods are situated in Brooklyn; in New Jersey cities such as Newark and Jersey City; and in towns in Connecticut.

States with highest Ecuadorian population
The 10 states with the largest Ecuadorian population were (Source: Census 2010 ):
 * 1) New York - 228,216 (1.2% of state population)
 * 2) New Jersey - 100,480 (1.1% of state population)
 * 3) Florida - 60,574 (0.3% of state population)
 * 4) California - 35,570 (0.1% of state population)
 * 5) Connecticut - 23,677 (0.7% of state population)
 * 6) Illinois - 22,816 (0.2% of state population)
 * 7) Texas - 10,793 (less than 0.1% of state population)
 * 8) Pennsylvania - 10,680 (0.1% of state population)
 * 9) North Carolina - 8,110 (0.1% of state population)
 * 10) Massachusetts - 7,592 (0.1% of state population)

The U.S. state with the smallest Ecuadorian population (as of 2010) was North Dakota with 55 Ecuadorians (less than 0.1% of state population).

US Metro areas with largest Ecuadorian population
The largest Ecuadorian populations are found within these areas (Source: Census 2010)


 * 1) New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA - 316,243
 * 2) Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA - 37,029
 * 3) Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA - 23,118
 * 4) Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI MSA - 22,445
 * 5) Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA - 13,335
 * 6) Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA - 10,189
 * 7) Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA - 9,129
 * 8) Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA - 7,121
 * 9) New Haven-Milford, CT MSA - 6,680
 * 10) Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA - 6,440
 * 11) Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA - 5,292
 * 12) Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA - 5,011
 * 13) Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA - 4,662
 * 14) Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC MSA - 4,590
 * 15) Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA - 4,287
 * 16) Trenton-Ewing, NJ MSA - 4,264
 * 17) Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA - 3,944
 * 18) Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 3,004
 * 19) Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY MSA - 2,957
 * 20) Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ MSA - 2,700

US communities with high percentages of people of Ecuadorian ancestry
The top 25 US communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Ecuadorian ancestry (as of the 2000 census, 2010 numbers in parenthesis) are:
 * 1) Sleepy Hollow, New York 10.76% (17.54%)
 * 2) Montauk, New York 8.08% (4.21%)
 * 3) East Newark, New Jersey 7.87% (19.87%)
 * 4) Ossining, New York 7.48% (19.31%)
 * 5) Patchogue, New York 7.09%
 * 6) Hightstown, New Jersey 6.31% (14.11%)
 * 7) Union City, New Jersey 5.94% (9.23%)
 * 8) North Plainfield, New Jersey 5.39%
 * 9) Town of Ossining, New York 4.98% (19.31%)
 * 10) Port Chester, New York 4.90% (9.58%)
 * 11) Hackensack, New Jersey 4.78% (9.98%)
 * 12) Springs, New York 4.46% (17.25%)
 * 13) West New York, New Jersey 4.45%
 * 14) Peekskill, New York 4.32%
 * 15) North Bergen, New Jersey 4.02%
 * 16) Harrison, New Jersey 3.90%
 * 17) Guttenberg, New Jersey 3.88%
 * 18) East Hampton, New York 3.81%
 * 19) East Windsor, New Jersey 3.39%
 * 20) Dover, New Jersey 3.37%
 * 21) Rye, New York 3.18%
 * 22) Belleville, New Jersey 3.06%
 * 23) Danbury, Connecticut 2.92% (7.57%)
 * 24) Guttenberg, New Jersey 2.9%
 * 25) Weehawken, New Jersey 2.83%

U.S. communities with the most residents born in Ecuador
The top 25 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Ecuador are:
 * 1) Sleepy Hollow, New York 10.4%
 * 2) East Newark, New Jersey 10.3%
 * 3) Ossining, New York 10.1%
 * 4) Hightstown, New Jersey 9.5%
 * 5) North Plainfield, New Jersey 7.8%
 * 6) Montauk, New York 7.8%
 * 7) Patchogue, New York 7.7%
 * 8) Union City, New Jersey 7.5%
 * 9) Wainscott, New York 6.4%
 * 10) Peekskill, New York 5.9%
 * 11) Springs, New York 5.4%
 * 12) Hackensack, New Jersey 5.3%
 * 13) West New York, New Jersey 5.2%
 * 14) Port Chester, New York 4.8%
 * 15) Queens, New York 4.7%
 * 16) Dover, New Jersey 4.6%
 * 17) Harrison, New Jersey 4.1%
 * 18) Twin Rivers, New Jersey 4.0%
 * 19) Belleville, New Jersey 3.8%
 * 20) Danbury, Connecticut 3.7%
 * 21) Newark, New Jersey 3.6%
 * 22) Spring Valley, New York 3.5%
 * 23) Tarrytown, New York 3.4%
 * 24) Brewster, New York 3.1%
 * 25) Guttenberg, New Jersey 2.9%

Notable people

 * Cecilia Alvear - Latina journalist in television news and the former President of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists
 * Christina Aguilera - American singer-songwriter, actress, and television personality who is the daughter of an Irish mother and Ecuadorian father.
 * Diego Tinoco- An American actor, and television personality who has an Ecuadorian-Colombian mother and Mexican father Who has appeared on Mtv's Teen Wolf And On Netflix's On My Block
 * Cree Cicchino - American actress from Game Shakers who has descendence from Italy and Ecuador.
 * Adrienne Bailon - American actress, singer-songwriter, dancer, and television personality
 * Lourdes Gillespie Baird - former United States federal judge.
 * Nancy Bermeo - Professor of political science who is the daughter of an Irish and Danish mother and an Ecuadorian father. Nuffield Chair of Comparative Politics at Oxford University.
 * Chico Borja - retired U.S.-Ecuadorian soccer player and current soccer coach
 * Samantha Boscarino - American actress (How to Rock). She is Ecuadorian descent from her mother.
 * Charles Castronovo - American tenor
 * F. Javier Cevallos - president of Framingham State University in Framingham, MA.
 * Violet Chachki - American drag queen, singer and actress born in Atlanta, Georgia. Half Ecuadorian.
 * Irina Falconi - professional American tennis player
 * Raul Fernandez (entrepreneur) - son of a Cuban father and an Ecuadorian mother.
 * April Flores - American actress and plus-size model
 * Alexandra von Fürstenberg - Director and business men
 * Jose Garces - chef and restaurant owner
 * Pia Getty - Independent filmmaker
 * Andrés Gómez - former Ecuatorian professional tennis player
 * Cork Graham - Writer
 * George Gustines - journalist
 * Jaime Jarrín - Spanish language voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers
 * Mike Judge - American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, musician, and creator of King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead who was born in Ecuador to parents working there
 * Gerardo Mejía - Latin rapper and singer
 * Nadia Mejía - Miss California USA in 2016.
 * Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
 * Lloyd Monserratt - (1966–2003)
 * Francisco Moya - American politician from Corona, Queens
 * Byron Nemeth - Musician
 * John Paulson - American hedge fund manager
 * Jenn Pinto
 * Lady Pink - graffiti artist.
 * Fátima Ptacek - American child actress and model
 * Ernesto Quiñonez - American novelist
 * Diego Serrano - American actor
 * Nelson Serrano - former Ecuadorian businessman and a nationalized American citizen (since 1971) who was convicted for murder.
 * Hugo Savinovich - former Ecuadorian professional wrestler
 * Pancho Segura - former leading tennis player
 * Jason and Kristopher Simmons - American actors
 * Carmen Velasquez - New York Supreme Court Justice, first to be elected in New York State Civil Court (2009-2014) and Supreme Court (2015-2028).
 * Roberto de Villacis - American Latino fashion designer and artist
 * Emanuel Xavier - American poet, spoken word artist, novelist, editor, and activist
 * Nina G. Vaca - former Chair of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, emigrated to the United States from Ecuador