Before Captain Jordan Scanlan enlisted in the military in 2010, he had many family and friends across different military bases. As a young man in American Sāmoa, he knew he wanted to join the Army. “It was a common thing we say on the island, you know there are only two ways to get off the rock,” Scanlan said. “You are either going to be in the NFL or you are going to join the military.” ¹

Samoan migration to the continental United States, or to Hawaiʻi and Alaska, occurred in big numbers starting in the 1950s. About a third of islanders moved off American Sāmoa by 1960, and by 1972 about five hundred people left every year. At the time, Samoans already living in Hawaiʻi and California outnumbered those still in American Sāmoa by almost two to one.

Many see this as a quest to achieve the “American Dream,” a belief that within America, anyone can achieve success because of the values placed on freedom, equality, and hard work. For migrant communities, moving to the so-called “Land of Opportunity” is a chance to increase socioeconomic mobility by enhancing one’s social status and income. For many on the archipelago of Sāmoa, such mobility could only be achieved by leaving home.

Chasing the American Dream is made possible for Samoans because, as US nationals from an US territory, they can freely migrate to the US despite not being granted US birthright citizenship. In this module, we discuss where Samoans migrate to, why they migrate, and their realities when they get there.