The Political Incorporation Through Citizenship of Salvadoran
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THE POLITICAL INCORPORATION THROUGH CITIZENSHIP OF SALVADORAN FORCED MIGRANTS IN THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA By Margarita S. Studemeister Submitted to the Faculty of the Department of Sociology of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Sociology Chair : Esther Ngan-ling Chow, Ph.D. Russell A. Stone, Ph.D. Gay Young, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Date 2011 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 © COPYRIGHT by Margarita S. Studemeister 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DEDICATION To Salvadoran forced migrants worldwide THE POLITICAL INCORPORATION THROUGH CITIZENSHIP OF SALVADORAN FORCED MIGRANTS IN THE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA BY Margarita S. Studemeister ABSTRACT This qualitative study explores the political incorporation through citizenship of Salvadoran forced migrants who fled armed violence in El Salvador from 1975 to 1991 and settled in the Washington metropolitan area. Snowball sampling sought maximum representativeness and produced a quota sample of 60 men and women. Using an interview guide, data were collected about their migration and legalization process in the United States (U.S.), and about their civic and political participation and sense of belonging towards El Salvador and the U.S. The forced migration of these Salvadorans was gendered. More men than women departed when state repression targeted mostly men involved in confrontational political activism. During armed conflict, the vulnerability of women increased, leading to their flight. The mode and date of U.S. entry stratified Salvadorans into those without legal status or with conditional status and those with permanent residency and a path to citizenship. Most of them sought a “right to security,” or the freedom to rebuild and sustain dignified lives. Many achieved permanent residency through social ties that made ii them eligible via employment, marriage, or family. Others had to await suitable U.S. immigration law reform. Driven by a “giving-back” obligation, these Salvadorans participate civically and politically toward the U.S. and El Salvador. Pre-migration experiences help them establish ethnic organizations in the U.S., mostly led by men. Exposure to the U.S. political system reinforces gendered participation. Women and men participate equally in U.S. elections. More women than men engage in advocacy and volunteerism, and more men than women, in partisan activities. To connect from the U.S. with communities back home, men head hometown associations, and men and women lead other homeland groups. Women are more inclined than men to use their resources to travel in order to vote in Salvadoran elections. Salvadoran forced migrants exhibit an “acculturated homeland identity,” a middle-class and uniquely American fusion, and they practice dual citizenship. Love and rootedness represent their homeland identity. Gratitude and U.S. cultural competence constitute their U.S. identity. Salvadoran forced migrants believe that they are negatively perceived as Latinos in the U.S., and that they are disenfranchised citizens in their homeland. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS For their loving support of my plans to pursue a doctorate in the discipline of sociology, I acknowledge Charles E. Vela, Patricio Antonio Vela, Veronica Xochitl Vela, Adan Ernesto Vela, and Elizabeth Cabanel. Throughout this academic pursuit, I have had the privilege of the significant and ample advice of Professors Esther Ngan-ling Chow, Russell A. Stone, and Gay Young. Moreover, I have had the honor of the valuable and generous guidance of Professor Chow for this dissertation. I am particularly grateful to the respondents, whose experiences and thoughts served to materialize this dissertation. I am forever indebted for all these contributions to my professional development and in turn, to sociological scholarship. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................................... xi LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................ xii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1 Research Questions ..................................................................................4 Theoretical Background ............................................................................5 Research Methodology .............................................................................6 Significance of the Study ..........................................................................9 Limitations and Delimitations of the Study ............................................. 11 Organization of This Dissertation ........................................................... 11 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ................................................................ 13 Assimilation and Acculturation............................................................... 15 Segmented Assimilation and Selected Acculturation............................... 17 Views on Ethnic Group Resources .......................................................... 20 Gender Perspectives ............................................................................... 21 Three Dimensions of Citizenship ............................................................ 26 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 46 v 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................... 48 Sample Design and Selection .................................................................. 50 Method of Data Collection...................................................................... 57 Data Processing and Analysis ................................................................. 63 Research Quality Standards .................................................................... 68 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 70 4. FORCED MIGRATION OF SALVADORANS ............................................. 72 Arrival and Settlement of Salvadorans in the United States ..................... 74 The Pre-migration Socio-economic Standing of Salvadoran Forced Migrants ................................................................................................. 76 The Reasons for Departing El Salvador .................................................. 81 Political Violence Beginning in the 1970s .............................................. 84 Political Activism Against Military Rule ................................................ 91 Armed Conflict 1981-1991 ..................................................................... 98 Army and Guerrilla Recruitment........................................................... 104 The Human Toll ................................................................................... 107 Refugees or Not? .................................................................................. 113 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 116 5. THE LEGALIZATION PROCESS .............................................................. 118 Means Available to Attain a Legal Status ............................................. 119 The Social Consequences of Mode and Date of Entry Into the United States ........................................................................................ 124 Unauthorized Upon Arrival .................................................................. 126 The Right to Education ......................................................................... 130 The Right to Work ................................................................................ 133 vi Under the Cover of an Asylum Application .......................................... 135 A Degree of Security in Renewable Temporariness .............................. 138 Deceptive Security in Permanent Residency ......................................... 140 The Quest for Inalienable Security ........................................................ 145 Becoming Dual Citizens ....................................................................... 151 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 155 6. CIVIC AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION .............................................. 158 Civic and Political Engagement in the United States and El Salvador ... 159 Salvadoran Self-help and Service Organizations ................................... 163 Advocacy ............................................................................................. 168 Civic Volunteerism ............................................................................... 172 Electoral Participation .......................................................................... 175 Political Campaigns .............................................................................. 181 Salvadoran Homeland Organizations .................................................... 186 Barriers to Civic and Political Participation .......................................... 190 Conclusions .........................................................................................