Central Americans: a Savvy Bunch

Mexico President Vicente Fox is urging President Bush to consider major changes in immigration policy that could improve the status of many Mexicans living in the United States. But Bush must be careful not to forget the importance of Central Americans, who are the nation’s third-largest Latino subgroup and among the most politically active immigrants in the U.S.

Ironically, the violence, poverty and other social ills that were often perpetuated or neglected by U.S.-sponsored governments in the region spawned a politically active Central American community. Today, many of those same people are within the borders of the United States and now must be reckoned with. Take, for example, Salvadoran Americans. They may lack the numerical power of Mexican Americans or the immense financial resources and political favor enjoyed by Cuban Americans. But they come from a country where, according to a study conducted by Central American University in San Salvador, one of every three Salvadorans was politically active. They have brought their political savvy here.

In their homelands, most Central Americans and their institutions--churches, townships, nongovernmental organizations and others--were aligned either with the far left or the far right. This left-right division, combined with high population density and the extreme divisions between the rich and the poor in most of these countries, resulted in a high level of political activity at all levels of society.

Here in the U.S., we see expressions of this sophisticated political culture in union halls and churches and at the polls.

Frank Sharry, head of the influential National Immigration Forum, traces his political acumen to the Central Americans he has worked with. “Everything I learned about political organizing, I learned from Salvadorans,” he said. He was speaking of the refugees who, once they arrived in the U.S., challenged the immigration law and foreign policy of the most powerful country in the world--and ultimately prevailed. Salvadorans, after years of trying, were able to gain temporary protected status in 1990. Many other national groups did not. In 1992, Salvadorans in the U.S. made significant contributions to the peace process in their former home, in spite of Presidents Reagan and Bush, who preferred a military solution to the war there.

Nicaraguans also have made some gains in the U.S. In 1998, Nicaraguan Americans in Florida were successful in gaining the backing of the Cuban political establishment and GOP leaders to secure legal status for thousands of Nicaraguans. Republican support for the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), which provided permanent residency to Nicaraguans, also galvanized Guatemalans, Hondurans and some Salvadorans who continue living under temporary or undocumented status despite fleeing poverty, wars and natural disasters on a scale equal to or greater than the hardships faced by Nicaraguans.

Unfortunately, today many Central Americans still live under undocumented or temporary status that for many of them has lasted two decades. Oscar Chacon, head of the Washington-based Salvadoran National Network, says it is time to “end this ... ‘temporary’ nightmare that separates families and keeps a permanent cloud of fear over so many Central Americans.” Chacon and members of several national coalitions are advocating permanent residency for those left out under NACARA. They believe that adjusting the legal status of these Central Americans will improve their earning potential. In this way, the U.S. will also be helping its interests in Central America, because Central Americans living in the U.S. now send back to their home countries much more than the U.S. government provides in foreign aid.

Central Americans are among the youngest, fastest growing, most rapidly naturalizing and politically active groups in the country. “Politicos ignoring Central Americans do so at their own peril,” Sharry said. Recently, Hilda Solis, a Mexican-Nicaraguan American, was elected to Congress. Many other Central Americans are also finding their political footing in the U.S. “I was a dishwasher, busboy, parking lot attendant, you name it,” said Edgar Gonzalez, a Salvadoran American who was recently tapped by the GOP to be a Republican candidate for the Virginia legislature. He’s just one of many who are rising in politics.

After nearly 20 years in which the federal government has held them in legal limbo between permanent residency and undocumented status, Central Americans deserve the dignity of being full participants in American society. Any changes to the nation’s immigration policy must include provisions to regularize their status.