“The Cold War impact on
U.S. Immigration policy towards Latin
Americans”
Alba Hesselroth
Yale-Georgetown 2009 Summer Institute
“Latin America and the Cold War”
New Haven, July 10 2009
Strategic geographic position counts…
Issues and time frames to be taken
into consideration
1950
1980
1990
UNEMPLOYMENT FOR HISPANIC
WOMEN (1988)
Source: U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Employment and Earnings, January 1989.
1988: Unemployment for Hispanic women
compared to other groups
Patterns in unemployment for
Hispanic women
Women of Mexican origin had the
highest unemployment rate of
9.6%
Women of Cuban origin had
the lowest unemployment
rate. Their 1988 rate of 5.2 %
was lower than the 1988
annual average of 5.6 percent
for all women.
1980: Education/ rate of graduation among
Hispanic women 25 years and over
• One third of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans had
graduated from high school in 1980.
• Cuban women surpassed their other Hispanic
counterparts with a 53 % graduation rate in
1980.
EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN OF HISPANIC
ORIGIN
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
Census, The Hispanic Population in the United States:
March 1988
Occupations of Employed Women, by Hispanic Origin, March
1988 (Percent distribution)
Occupations of Employed Women, by Hispanic Origin, March
1988 (%: Percent distribution)
All women
(white and
others)
All Hispanic
women
Mexican
origin
women
Puerto
Rican
origin
women
Cuban origin
women
Managerial
25.3
15.7
12.6
20.5
27.3
Service
17.7
21.7
21.9
15.3
13.0
Farming
0.9%
1.5
2.1
------
--------
2000: Percent of Population with a Bachelor’s Degree or
Higher by Hispanic Origin
35
28.1
30
25
23
20
15
17.4
13
10.6
10
6.9
5
0
Hispanic
Mexican
Puerto Rican
Cuban
Central and
South
American
Non-Hispanic
White
Unemployment rate among Hispanics
2006/2007
Source: US Bureau Labor Statistics
April 2007: Unemployment rate
Source: US Bureau Labor Statistics
• The U.S. Hispanic unemployment rate jumped to
6.9% in April from 5.5% .
• Cubans had the lowest unemployment rate which is
comparable to general rates of unemployment of the
total civilian labor force.
Median household income in the USA
Source: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf
Median household income in the USA
Foreign-born Cubans
40,000
35,000
30,000
38,000
33,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Arrived before Arrived 1980- Arrived in 1990
1980
1990
or later
Poverty rates among Hispanic people.
Poverty rates for Cubans are generally lower
than for other Hispanics
National Indicators, year 2004
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey,
March 2004, Ethnic and Hispanic Statistics Branch,
Population Division
• 41% of Latino households make $25,000 or less
compared to 19% of Whites.
• Excluding from these data the Cuban households in
Miami (a much more affluent community) the
percentage of Latino households making $25,000 or
less increases almost to 50%.
Cubans in the USA
Source: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf
• Compared with the rest of the Hispanic population in the
United States, Cubans:
- have a higher level of education
- higher median household income
- higher rate of home ownership.
Cubans in the USA
Source: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/23.pdf
• With respect to other Hispanics:
As a group Cubans in the USA are distinct in many
ways from the rest of the Hispanic population.
• Within the “Cuban” category:
There are important differences among Cubans,
particularly between those who arrived before 1980
and those who arrived in subsequent years.
PUZZLES:
- WHY DO CUBANS IN THE U.S. HAVE A BETTER ECONOMIC
/SOCIAL POSITION COMPARED TO OTHER HISPANIC GROUPS?
- WHY DO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN
CUBANS THAT ARRIVED BEFORE 1980S AND THOSE THAT
ARRIVED LATER?
- WHAT
DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE
COLD WAR?
1959: Cuban Revolution, turning point
From then onwards: 4 important migration waves
during the Castro government
• 1959- After the Castro revolution
• 1965-1973 Freedom Flights
• 1980 Mariel Boatlif
• 1989 Ongoing migration
U.S. policy towards Cubans after 1959
• Throughout all four phases, U.S. policy has been far more
welcoming towards Cubans than to any other migrants from
Latin America.
• Virtually all Cuban migrants have been admitted under a
special parole power exercised by the U.S. Attorney General
that immediately grants them full legal status and puts them
on a path to U.S. citizenship.
• Currently, Cuban migrants apprehended at sea are returned
to Cuba while those who are able to reach U.S. soil are
allowed to stay.
1959- IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE
CASTRO REVOLUTION
1959- Immediately after the Castro revolution Elite emigration: supporters of Batista and wealthy
people (white and highly educated).
1959- After the Castro revolution
• 1959: number of Cubans in the USA: 124,000
• After 1959: initial exodus, primarily wealthy Cubans
• Also upper-middle class families.
• During the early years of the revolutionary period, about
215,000 Cubans emigrated to the U.S.
• 31% of Cubans that migrated to the U.S. were professional or
managers.
March 1960: Eisenhower government
invokes the Mutual Security Act
• Tremendous impact:
- Recognition of Cuba as a communist state
- Cubans are thus recognized as “Exiles”
Kennedy Administration: assertive role in refugee relief
efforts
• 1966: Establishment of the “Cuban Refugee Program” (CRP)
• First time after World War II that the government gave
monetary assistance for refugee resettlement which included:
- monthly relief checks
- health services
- job training
*- adult educational opportunities – English classes,
Professional certification
*- Partial funding to Dade County Public Schools System
to help to accommodate more than 3,500 Cuban
refugee children in 1961
“Operacion Pedro Pan” Peter Pan Operation.
The Cuban children’s exodus
December 1960 - October 1962, more than 14,000 Cuban
youths arrived alone in the US. It was the largest recorded
exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere
SECOND WAVE:
1965-1973 FREEDOM FLIGHTS AND
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
April 1965-September 1966:
Freedom Flights
• 1965: Camarioca port => State Department Sealift
• Orderly departure programs administered by the U.S and
Cuban governments. Bilateral arrangement.
• Preference: familiar unification. Emigration restrictions
imposed by Cuba on certain types of skilled labor and men of
military age
• Two flights per day, 3,000 to 4,000 Cubans each month
• Total: 3,048 flights that carried 297, 318 refugees to the U.S.
Freedom Flights
• More mixed population emigrated from Cuba to the U.S.
(middle class, working class people).
• By 1970: 12% professionals or managers, 57% blue collar,
service, or agricultural workers, from different parts of Cuba.
• Women overrepresented.
• Blacks underrepresented.
Late 1970s
• By mid-1970s: US Cuban Refugee Program had spent
over US$957 million in resettlement, relief, and other
services.
• Clandestine emigration
• 1972: reunification, 50,000 Cubans from Spain
• By September 1977, total number of Cubans that
arrived to the U.S. since January 1959: 665,043
Impact of Cold War on Latino Political Mobilization
and Community Organizing in the USA
- 1960s-1970s:
- In California, Chicanas actively participated in the UFW, while
East Los Angeles Latina activists worked for social change,
Puerto Ricans for defense of civil rights.
- Cuban women also organized: Hijas del Pueblo in New
Orleans and the Junta Patriotica de Damas de Nueva York.
- Later: Union de Mujeres, the Cruzada Femenina Cubana,
Movimiento Femenino Anticomunista de Cuba, Organizacion
de Damas Anticomunistas Cubanas (Perez, 1986: 126-37)
1980: THE MARIEL BOATLIFT (THE
HUMAN AVALANCHE)
The Mariel exodus
Precedent: late 1970s events
• 1970s: Thawing in tensions Cuba - USA.
• 1977: diplomatic relations w/ creation of “interest sections” in
Washington and Havana. Cultural exchanges followed.
• 1978: over 100,000 Cuban exiles were allowed to visit
families and friends in Cuba.
• 1979: The Castro government released over 4,000 political
prisoners and allowed them to emigrate.
Precedent: late 1970s events
• The “blue jean revolution”
- Contact between Cubans in the homeland and exiles and
Americans in the U.S. had a boomerang effect.
- Many Cubans’ basic beliefs about their society and about life
in the U.S. were challenged.
- Discontent increased and attempts to leave the island too.
-1979-1980: 30 Cubans smuggled themselves in Latin
American embassies seeking asylum
The Peruvian incident
• April 4, 1980: 10,800 Cubans moved into the
grounds of the Peruvian Embassy in Havana, after
the Cuban Government guards were removed from
the Peruvian Embassy.
The Peruvian embassy incident
Source: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/mariel-exodus.htm
Two important outcomes:
• Air lift from third countries: Cubans arriving in San
Jose, Costa Rica, and Madrid, Spain, shared with the
world media the horrors lived while at the
Embassy.
This exposure generated a negative
opinion for the aging Cuban Revolution.
• The Mariel migration began: Fidel Castro announced
the opening of the Port of Mariel and invited Cubans
in America to come to pick-up their relatives in the
island.
The Mariel exodus: a chaotic, highly controversial,
distinct migration
•
Unilateral.
• Human avalanche, unprecedented numbers and composition:
- During May: 88,817 Cubans left the island, 14,000 per week.
- As of Sept. 1980: 125,000 Cubans came to the USA.
- The Marielitos, came from virtually every segment of Cuban
society, including the poor. Many were black.
- Individuals released from jails and mental institutions by
became part of the human flow that migrated to the US.
• U.S. national perceptions of the Cuban exile community were
forever altered.
The Mariel migration.
Impact in Cuba
• Those that wanted to migrate were harassed by the
Cuban government.
• The Mariel exodus alleviated serious internal
administrative and economic
problems. Cuba
exported a high risk population to the U.S.
Impact on the USA
• President Carter stated: "We will continue to provide an open
heart and open arms to refugees seeking freedom from
Communist domination."
• Hundreds of people continued arriving in Key West and other
parts of Florida. FEMA opened four refugee camps in Florida,
Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
“Marielos” in the USA
• Ethnic relations deteriorated in the wake of the boatlift:
- Marielos (mainly “Black” and poor) were discriminated by
other Cubans.
- Anti-Cuban sentiment: African Americans rioted, voters
repealed Bilingual-Bicultural Ordinance.
• Mainstream US press exaggerated on the “Crime bomb” by
Fidel Castro.
• The increase of criminal activity (in Florida) was often blamed
on the Mariel refugees.
“Marielos” in the USA
• As of December 26, 1981, of 163 Cubans charged an/or
convicted felons housed in Dade County's main jail:
- 103 or 63.9% are Mariel refugees
- 11 or 6.8% are Cuban ex- political prisoners
- 47 or 29.1% are Cuban-Americans. (Unzueta)
http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0033.html
“Marielos” in the USA
• Legally, initially the individuals coming in the Mariel Flotilla
were granted the new administrative category of "entrant".
• This technicality rendered them ineligible for assistance
available through the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980.
• The Fascell - Stone Amendment to the Refugee Act of 1980:
special funding was authorized, in the form of cash assistance,
reached the entrants during the latter part of February 1981.
http://cuban-exile.com/doc_026-050/doc0033.html
Median household income in the USA
Foreign-born Cubans
40,000
35,000
30,000
38,000
33,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Arrived before Arrived 1980- Arrived in 1990
1980
1990
or later
FOURTH WAVE
Two important turning points
• 1980s: Ronald Reagan elected President, the
Cold War became “colder”
• 1989-1990: End of the Cold War
1980s: The Cold War gets colder
• 1984: United States allowed immigration of up to
20,000 Cubans annually. However, this was
interrupted by the Cuban government due to the
installation of “Radio Marti” by the Reagan
administration.
• Hard foreign policy by the Reagan administration,
especially regarding the Soviet Union. Soviet
economy collapsed.
1990s, the Cold War is over.
Cubans’ situation in the island gets worse
• After trade and special perks between Cuba and the Soviet
Union were suspended, Cuba was put into a dismal economic
situation.
• The Cuban government instilled a rationing system to deal
with food, electricity, and gasoline shortages. The discontent
continued to grow among many Cubans who desired
economic and political freedom.
1994: Rafter Exodus
• 1994: Huge wave of immigrants from Cuba.
Approximately 33,000 Cubans fled to the U.S.
• Due to the large wave of Cubans entering the country, the US
made an agreement in September 1994 that would limit the
number of incoming Cubans to 20,000 annually.
Central Americans’ Migration to
the USA
Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala
A tale of three migrations…, and ax
extremely biased U.S. reception…
Migration Flows from Guatemala,
1960s through 2005
Source: International Organization for Migration, Guatemala
Time period
Number of emigrants
1960s
6,700
1970s
56,843
1981-85
84,897
1986-90
159,809
1991-94
141,755
1995-00
558,776
Total (through 2005)
1,364,546
Central American Migration
1980s Guatemalan Indigenous
Q’anjob’al Maya fleeing the
scorched-earth policy of
Guatemalan government.
1990s-2000s
• Men have outnumbered
women’s migration
Cold War mentality shaped Latin American
immigration to the U.S.
• Citizens of countries who were not fleeing communist regimes
tried unsuccessfully to win refugee status.
• After the 1973 revolt against the socialist government of
Chile: the United States took in fewer than 1,700 Chilean
refugees.
• The U.S. government also denied asylum to most of the
Haitian boat people during the 1970s and deported them.
1980s, some changes but still “Cold War fever”
• Prior to 1980, the U.S. limited its recognition of refugees to
those fleeing from communist governments.
• 1980: Pres. Carter signed “ The Refugee Act of 1980” that
established the definitions of asylum and refugee status in
line with those of the UN: as those fleeing their country from
political oppression.
• However…the Cold War mentality still strongly influenced
public recognition of civil war and political oppression around
the world.
1980s: Central American emigration to the U.S.,
a tale of three countries…
• Guatemala and El Salvador lived under right-wing and
dictatorial governments recognized and supported by the
United States and were plagued by civil wars .
• Under Cold War mentality the U.S. was supporting the
Salvadoran and Guatemalan governments from “Marxist
insurgency”.
• For the U.S. government the Sandinistas government was
undemocratic and Nicaraguans asking for asylum were fleeing
“communist oppression.”
Huge bias: coherence as part of
incoherence
• Decisions on asylum applications from Guatemala and El
Salvador were rejected by the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS)
• For the INS they were economic migrants and not legitimate
refugees fearing persecution. The fear of being killed in a civil
war was not sufficient for winning refugee status.
• Few managed to emigrate as refugees. Many stayed in the
U.S. as “illegals” threatened by deportation.
Coherence within Incoherence
“The Reagan administration doesn’t want to accept us as
refugees because it would be admitting that the military aid it
sends to El Salvador does not help, rather destroys and
creates refugees. I didn’t come here because I wanted to. I
had not economic need to come. I left my country because I
had to.”
Salvadoran immigrant
(Cited in Maria Cristina Garcia, Seeking Refuge. Central American Migration
to Mexico, the United States and Canada Univ. of California Press, 2006,
84)
Huge bias: some logic within incoherence
- Under Reagan the CIA-backed contras were trying to
overthrow the Sandinista government.
- Nicaraguans fleeing to the U.S. were slightly more successful
in securing asylum. Their approval rate was more than double
that of their neighbors.
-
In 1989: 5,092 Nicaraguans won asylum, compared with 102
Guatemalans and 443 Salvadorans.
1980s: Asylum applications from Central Americans
Sanctuaries
• Unprecedented numbers of Americans became
refugee workers. Churches and synagogues
proclaimed themselves "sanctuaries."
• However, many American sanctuary workers were
singled out, indicted and sentenced to prison.
• U.S. prosecutors defined sanctuary workers as
smugglers that used religion as a cover-up for their
criminal actions .
Legal efforts: low intensity struggle
• Bar association efforts to provide pro bono
representation to Salvadorans and Guatemalans.
• Throughout the decade, hundreds of individual
immigration hearings
• Lawyers for asylum applicants and INS lawyers waged
a low-intensity struggle over the nature of the
conflict in Central America and the rights of
individual Central Americans to asylum status.
ABC
• In 1985 the American Baptist Church (ABC) filed a
class-action suit against the INS, on behalf of
Guatemalan and Salvadoran nationals in the U.S.
who had been denied asylum.
• “American Baptist Church v. Thornburgh” alleged
that the U.S. government had engaged in
discriminatory treatment of asylum claims made by
Guatemalans and Salvadorans.
Outcomes in favor of Nicaraguans
• 1987: the Reagan Administration recognized the
Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua by establishing the
Nicaraguan Review Program (NRP) to give
Nicaraguans who had been denied asylum a second
review.
1990S AND 2000S: PHYSICAL AND
LEGAL EARTHQUAKES
Outcomes in favor of Guatemalans and
Salvadorans
• 1991: the US government and attorneys settled the
American Baptist Churches (ABC) v. Thornburgh classaction suit.
• As a result, Guatemalans and Salvadorans physically
present in the US before October 1, 1990 and
September 19, 1990, respectively, were granted a
new interview and asylum decision, irrespective of
any prior decisions on the asylum claim.
1990s: Developments Shaping Immigration from
Central America . Still “Cold War” mentality.
- 1997: U.S. Congress
passed the Nicaraguan
Adjustment and Central American Relief Act
(NACARA) which included Nicaraguans, Cubans,
Salvadorans and Guatemalans.
- Nicaraguans and Cubans fleeing from communist
regimes received permanent residency under Section
202, while Salvadorans and Guatemalans received
only cancellation of deportation and the opportunity
to apply for asylum under Section 203.
Later arrangements
• An estimated 374,000 Central Americans are
living in the US under Temporary Protected
Status (TPS), which the attorney general
granted in 1998 and 2001 after natural
disasters in the region.
HOWEVER…. MATTERS OF
CONCERN
Central American Migration
during and after the Cold War
1980s:
Late
1990s-2000s
Natural
Disasters, and
economic situation
1990s:
Civil Wars
Poor economic
situation
Guerrilla and
para-military
(right-wing death
squads)
Significant waves of legal and illegal immigration
to the United States
• 1980s: “Exodus to the U.S.” due to civil wars in
Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, combined with
already weak economies.
• 1990s: Economic issues
• 1998-2000s: Natural disasters
Hurricane Mitch in 1998,
two earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001,
Hurricane Stan in 2005.
Educational Attainment of the Central American Foreign Born
Population Age 25 and Older
Foreign born from Central America by
Country
Central Americans foreign born, High school and
college graduation rates, age 25 or older
Source: US Census Bureau, Census 2000
Level of education
• Of the Central American born age 25 and older, less than half
have a high school diploma.
• The foreign born from El Salvador :
- the lowest high school graduation rate (34.8 %)
- one of the lowest percentage of those age 25 and older with
a bachelor's degree (4.9 %).
• Foreign born from Guatemala:
- one of the lowest of high school graduation (37.3 %
- lowest percentage of college degree (3.0 %)
Aspects to be taken into consideration
• The significance of the implosion of the
underdeveloped world into the developed world.
(David Gutierrez)
• “ When [immigrants] enter the bottom of the ethnic
hierarchy of drastic social inequality, the forces of
assimilation come mainly from the [existing]
underprivileged segment of this structure, and this is
likely to result in distinct disadvantages…” (Min Zhou
“Segmented Assimilation: Issues, Controversies, and Recent Research on
the New Second Generation,” International Migration Review 1977:999)
Legacies of the Cold War era
• U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba still in force.
• In 1992, Pres. Bush signed the Cuban Democracy Act,
which tightened the embargo against Cuba.
• In 1996, Pres. Clinton signed the Cuban Liberty and
Democratic Solidarity Act, which imposed penalties
on companies doing business in Cuba. (Helms Burton
Bill that imposed additional sanctions on Cuba).
• Fidel Castro remained in power for almost 50 years
Legacies of the Cold War era
US Foreign policy
influenced domestic
politics in the USA
Domestic politics in
the USA influenced
US foreign policy
1959-1989
Cold War
Cubans in
America
pushed for
harsh policies
The US against
the Soviet
Union and
vice-versa
against Fidel
Castro
The US against
Cuba and viceversa
Cubans became
important
constituency in
Florida
The US
established
special
immigration
status for
Cubans
1989 - 2008
The US against
Cuba and viceversa
The US
established special
immigration status
for Cubans
Cubans in America
pushed for harsh
policies
against Fidel
Castro
Cubans became
important
constituency in
Florida