| Influences on Immigration to California | |
Although all Central American nations partake in the immigration
process, three nations contribute to the largest numbers: Guatemala, El Salvador
and Nicaragua. These immigrants mirror a cross section of their country’s
society: indigenous populations with distinct cultures and languages; landless
and propertied peasants; and low, middle and upper class urbanities.
Economic turmoil and uncertainty in the home country have led many to seek income-earning
opportunities elsewhere. Rampant war, endemic conflict, and political turmoil
are contributing causes of immigration to California. Regardless of motivation,
the vast majority of immigrants from Central America are undocumented.
Guatemalans began to arrive in the United States following the 1954 military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Jacobo Arbenz. After the coup, many individuals were exiled or fled the country in order to escape political persecution; the majority migrated to California. This early migration was characterized by an urban middle class population made up of intellectuals, political activists, union leaders and university students.
According to the 1990 Census, only about 6,000 persons Guatemalans resided in the United Sates prior to 1965. After 1965, the Guatemalan population increased dramatically. The 1990 Census estimated that 268,779 persons of Guatemalan origin lived in the United States; 52,783 were U.S. born., 215, 996 foreign born. However, in 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated that there were approximately 121,000 undocumented Guatemalans living in the United States. According to the INS Guatemala ranks third among the ten countries that contribute the most to the undocumented immigration to the United States. In U. S. urban centers, the majority of Guatemalans come from urban communities and originate from middle and working class backgrounds in Guatemala. They are mostly Spanish speaking persons with higher levels of education who are more skilled and better prepared to cope in the U. S. culture and society than are the Indigenous Mayan people who entered the United States in large numbers in the early 1980s. Nevertheless, Mayans have also settled in large metropolitan centers such as Los Angeles, Houston and San Francisco.
During the early 1980's, numerous Mayan communities in Guatemala were systematically destroyed as part of a strategic plan of action on the part of the Guatemalan military government. The refugees were subjected to government military actions that massacred the elderly, women, and children, who made up the vast majority of the refugee population. Entire populations were involuntarily relocated in strategic areas or were forced to migrate to Mexico or the United States by the repressive campaigns of terror carried out by the armed forces. In rural areas in the Southwest, the Central American population is composed mostly of these indigenous, rural people, most of whom made a living from traditional agriculture in Central America. The Mayan indigenous culture is governed by the rhythm of the corn agriculture and the seasons and people preferred to reestablish their lives in a rural rather than an urban lifestyles. Large numbers of Guatemalan Mayan immigrants are unskilled young males with low educational backgrounds who are employed as seasonal migrant workers in the agricultural farms throughout the sunbelt states. There are numerous Guatemalan Mayans working in the agricultural fields of Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and California.