Filipinos of Guam: Reconstructing ‘Homes’ and Migration Dreams

Filipinos have migrated to Guam since the Spanish colonial period and the American occupation of the early 20th century. At present, Filipinos constitute twenty-six percent of the total population of Guam, making them the second largest ethnic group on the island. They have migrated to the island for work as professionals and contractual workers, and for family reunification. While there is a significant Filipino community in this westernmost Pacific territory, many of these migrant families may not consider Guam as home for ultimate settlement despite being there for decades or even generations. Rather than severing their connections to the original homeland, most of them maintain close transnational ties with the Philippines and continue to build their ‘migration’ dreams for further migration to continental U.S.A. This research seeks to study the ‘transient migration’ of Filipinos to Guam. What makes Filipinos move to Guam and sustain their ongoing migration dream? How do Filipinos build their relationships with the local community and their identity in Guam? What compel them to continuously indulge in dreams of further migration? After obtaining U.S. citizenship in Guam, do Filipinos in Guam consider themselves Filipino, Guamanian or American? This research seeks to examine the complex relationships between migrant identity and concept of home-building, and the continuous sense of migration of the transient Filipino migrant community in Guam.