Dynamics of Salvadoran International Migration

Of the total Salvadorans, 93.5% live in the United States, mostly concentrated in cities in the states of California, Texas, New York, Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. On the other hand, 2.7% live in Canada and the remaining 3.8% reside in different countries around the world, especially in Australia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize and Honduras.

   Throughout its history, El Salvador has registered migratory flows that can be divided into four stages: the first dates back to the 1920-1969 period, in which thousands of people, especially from rural areas, left the country driven by the lack of access to land and job opportunities. Much of it went to the banana plantations on the north coast of Honduras.

   The second stage, from 1970 to 1979, was characterized by the increase in migration to the United States, again motivated by the lack of land and the lack of employment. However, a new motivational factor appears: the violence generated by the armed conflict. This reason has been a very powerful one that has marked the migration history of the country and also the violent culture that it experiences.

   In the third stage, from 1980 to 1991, the migratory flow was favored by changes generated in the immigration laws of the United States, such as the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA, for its acronym in English), that allowed migrants in an irregular situation to be able to legalize their situation and legally take their family members. This scenario led to the creation of support networks and a huge diaspora that is very important that helped migrate an enormous number of relatives, friends and neighbors. Additionally, some European countries facilitated aid programs for politically persecuted, as well as migration programs to Canada and Australia.

   The fourth stage begins in the year of the signing of the Peace Accords (1992). At this stage, the country faced the slowdown of the economy in 1996, the crisis of profitability in agriculture, the ravages of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and the earthquakes in 2001, events that had an impact on migratory flows.
Currently, we are in a stage in which, in addition to economic factors, natural disasters add to the desire for family reunification.

   Salvadoran migration is long-standing, multifaceted, and multi-causal. For 2015 it is estimated that an approximate 3,100,506 Salvadorans reside abroad, 49.12% are women, which represents a third of the total population of El Salvador, which, for the same year, was estimated at 6,401,415 inhabitants. Of the total Salvadorans, 93.5% live in the United States, mostly concentrated in cities in the states of California, Texas, New York, Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. 2.7% are living in Canada and the remaining 3.8% reside in different countries around the world, mainly in Australia, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize and Honduras.
El Salvador is a country of origin, transit, destination and return of migratory flows. In each of these stages of the immigration process, people face a series of conditions that are summarized below.

   At a general level, Salvadorans who have left the country in the last two years have done so mainly for four reasons: economic, desire for family reunification, insecurity and domestic violence. The foregoing does not mean that in many cases more than one reason does not converge: hence the importance of highlighting the multi-causality of migration. The poor economic conditions of families continues to be the main reason to emigrate, once this is not an issue, the next factor is family reunification.
People residing in the United States contribute heavily to the country’s economy through remittances. According to data from the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, in 2015 remittance income was 5,650.2 million dollars, which represents 16% of the gross domestic product. The deported persons are mostly young men between 18 and 25 years of age, although there has been an increase in numbers, girls, boys and adolescents during the last two years

   Migration has decreased in the last year, not only because of the pandemia, but before it happened, El Salvador was already seeing a decrease in its migration numbers. One of the main reasons for migration is violence and insecurity, the current government implemented a policy called plan control territorial, which attacked mainly the gangs, their structure and their finances. Violence decreased, and so one of the main reasons for migration has been almost erradicated.

   There is still a lot to do, especially with respect to the creation of job opportunities and social inequality. But the country is in the right path.

A. Figueroa