SALVADORIAN MIGRATION MOVMENT

The Salvadorian Migration Movement

POLS: 498 Senior Seminar

ABSTRACT

The migration of Salvadorians to the United States was greatly influenced by a number of push and pull factors. These include, an 11 year civil war, economic hardship, severe poverty and political repression. Pull factors associated with this migration were a desire for economic opportunities and political freedom. Push factors were (uncertain condition of country). Because of the District of Columbia's (DC) diverse cultures and populations, the city became a magnet for Salvadorians seeking political freedom and economic advancement. In 2000, Salvadorians migrated to DC, primarily in the Adams Morgan and Mt Pleasant communities. In this paper, I will provide an overview of the social, economic and political factors led to the migration of Salvadorians. This paper will also highlight why DC's appeal to its newest residents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTii

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION1

Statement of the Problem4

Purpose of Study4

Research question4

Hypotheses4

Importance of the study5

Uniqueness of the study5

Delimitations of the Study6

Limitation of the Study6

CHAPTER # 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE7

Immigrants in the United States8

Types of Legal Immigration9

Labor and Families9

Refugees and Asylees10

CHAPTER # 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK12

CHAPTER # 4: METHODOLOGY13

Research design13

Measurement of variables13

Sampling13

Research Methods14

Plan of Analysis14

CHAPTER # 5: FINDINGS15

What are the pull factors for El Salvadorians to Washington DC?16

Why most Salvadorian come to Washington D.C?16

Why they still coming into States?17

Summary21

CHAPTER # 6: DISCUSSION23

Limitations and Implications for Future Research26

Implications for Social Work Practice and Policy26

REFERENCES28

APPENDIX31

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America (8,008 sq. miles); about the size of Massachusetts. The capital is San Salvador comprised of 14 states (why is this important to mention). El Salvador borders to its east Guatemala and North West Honduras. The official, spoken language in El Salvador is Spanish. During the mid eighties, El Salvador was considered as:

“One of the smallest and least know countries in the western hemisphere, is also one of the poorest and most densely populated. It has in addition one of the most, distorted and inegalitarian systems of social, political and economic organization in Latin America. For over a century, land ownership and power have been vested in a small oligarchy, backed by repressive military forces and vigilante squads. Peasants have been dispossessed of their land-forced to accept seasonal work on large estates for below subsistence wages or to migrate to the country's most isolated areas and to neighboring Honduras”.

There was (after the independence of El Salvador to pre- Civil War a substantial divide between the rich and the poor. The wealth in El Salvador was held by a small minority of the population (majority in the population was the people that would do low pay jobs and not having little or low education most of them would live outside the city and for the most farm or agricultural land). The majority of Salvadorians were plagued by unemployment, malnutrition, illiteracy, torture and death imposed by a Military ruler. These distressed conditions gave birth to support for Guerrilla and military rule in 1978. The majority of Salvadorians believed that the Guerrilla's were an organization ...