Virginia remains among the top ten states for largest Filipino American populations, and by no surprise, holds a substantial number of Filipino nurses—an ethnic group of professionals that comprises approximately five percent of the total nursing workforce in the United States. The migration of Filipino nurses to the U.S. began during the early 20th century with the American colonization of the Philippines following the Spanish American War and the concurrence of biomedical advancements, construction of modern hospitals, and professionalization of nursing within the American metropole. While Filipino nurses began settling in the U.S. before World War II, their numbers skyrocketed during the mid-twentieth century following the establishment of the Exchange Visitor Program in 1948 and the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965. These events correlated with the post-war nursing shortage in the country and led to the recruitment of Filipino nurses in areas of dire need–primarily through inner city hospitals, and to a lesser extent, rural hospitals.

The migration of Filipino nurses to Virginia resulted directly from their recruitment to rural hospitals and indirectly through an association with Filipino naval servicemen stationed at Naval Station Norfolk. The recruitment of Filipino men into the U.S. Navy provides a gendered parallel to the training of Filipino women in nursing under U.S. colonialism, as both institutions made migrations to the U.S. accessible beginning in the early twentieth century. World War II greatly expanded the facilities of Naval Station Norfolk, which eventually became the largest naval base in the world–thus becoming a major destination for Filipino naval servicemen. Recruiting men from the Philippines into the U.S. Navy continued until the end of the Military Bases Agreement in 1992. The interlaced meetings and marriages of Filipino naval servicemen and Filipino nurses across the Eastern seaboard led the latter to follow the former, as they created families in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Other Filipino nurses would arrive in this area through chain migration, as first-degree relatives of Filipino naval servicemen could petition them for permanent residency. The placemaking of Filipino naval servicemen and nurses in Hampton Roads has made the region one of the largest Filipino American communities on the East coast.

Virginia Museum of History & Culture, read:
https://virginiahistory.org/learn/care-beyond-national-and-color-lines-filipino-nurses-virginia-across-20th-century

Exhibition: A Culture to Care. The History of Filipino Nurses in Virginia, visit:
https://rencapucao.com/exhibition/