Image by NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/books/review/Kurtz-Phelan-t.html

As of 2013, an estimated 1.3 million Guatemalans currently reside in the United States (Pew Research Center: 2015). That means that 1.3 million people made the decision to leave their home country to start a new life in a foreign country, unknown to them what the future would hold. These decisions are not faced with simplicity and consequently are given much thought. However, sometimes these migrations are done because of the necessity for the safety of oneself and one’s family. Guatemalan’s historical migration begins in 1954.

A major role in the forcible migration of Guatemalans lends to Chiquita Brands International, a very popular banana company that everyone most commonly enjoys. Chiquita Brands, formerly known as the United Fruit Company (UFC), began their relationship with Guatemala under President Estrada Cabrera in 1901 (Colby: 2011). Estrada Cabrera used them for his own political gain using UFC’s reputation and resources to his own advantage to pursue railway plans with the Northern Railway (Colby: 2011). In 1904, he signed a contract with Keith’s Railroad Company who would become known as UFC to control much of Guatemala’s Caribbean Coast and create banana plantations in the Guatemalan lowlands (Colby: 2011). However, in 1954, President Arbenz wanted to institute a land reform to get Guatemala’s land back, angering both wealthy Guatemalans and US investors with the top one being UFC (Giron: 2007). Due to this, in 1954, a covert operation carried out by the United States CIA, with backing from US government overthrew Arbenz and soon after a 30-year civil war had begun (Giron: 2007).

The war first began as a “gentleman’s war” between the urban middle class but it quickly escalated from there and the Guerilla Army of the Poor (EGP) and the Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA) went into the countryside of Guatemala and began to take control of the xf populations (Burell: 2013). On top of the civil war, there was a massive earthquake in 1976 that caused many indigenous people to relocate to Guatemala City (Burell: 2013). In 1979, these Guerilla armies began to have a significant presence in Guatemala and in 1981, the “internal army” was created, who were killing off the Mayan people (Burell: 2013). Essentially, they had a Mayan genocide, thus killing all Mayan communities that were seen as a risk of rebellion (Burell: 2013). To fight off the Guerilla army, the Guatemalan army realized that they needed to eliminate any threat of national security, therefore they decided to make a government at the village level (Burell: 2013). Under Guatemalan army direction, any man that could fight that was from the village created civil patrols that were organized into groups that were supposed to overpower the Guerilla and suppress them (Burell: 2013). However, the civil patrols also soon became corrupt as they began abusing their powers and ruling over others and taking out their vengeance on people who had once done them wrong (Burell: 2013). In 1996, after the 30-year civil war, a peace agreement was signed with the Guatemalan government and the Guerilla groups (Giron: 2007). Things weren’t so great after this however and violent crimes actually increased dramatically in the 2 years following the signing of the treaty (Giron: 2007).

The long civil war, economic crisis, political corruption, and natural disaster were all contributions to why Guatemalans first began to migrate to the United States. Large-scale migration began in the 1970s because of the civil war (Menjivar: 2006). Not all migrated to the United States, rather some migrated internally such as the indigenous people from the countryside moving into the city (Menjivar: 2006). Some went to refugee camps in other countries and others decided to make the long trek to the United States with 85% of immigrants coming into the US from 1980-2000 (Menjivar: 2006).

Based upon Guatemalan migration in a broader context my family’s story is representative of the typical migrant’s experience considering they were part of the first large-scale group of people that migrated in the ’70s. Most Guatemalans traveled by foot because there was no way of being able to get on a plane and due to financial constraints. As a result, traveling by foot would probably have been the cheaper option. They left Guatemala at the time when a lot of other Guatemalans were also migrating to the United States in hopes of seeking a better future. Due to the civil war in Guatemala, many Guatemalans were forced to migrate. They had no other choice because it was a matter of survival. My family was not forcibly removed from the country, but the effects of the civil war did force them to make that decision.

Theories of Migration (edited) 

World Systems Theory

My family’s migration story and Guatemalan migration, in general, can be applied to world systems theory. World systems theory comes down to globalization and in this case, the United States was benefitting from Guatemalan land and exploiting the Guatemalan people at the same time. World systems theory describes the process by which people were stripped of their land. The United States stripped the community of the land and disrupted their local economics eventually fueling migration and dislocating people. Looking at the history of Guatemala, it can be seen that the United Fruit Company was exploiting Guatemalan territory and taking land from Guatemalan citizens, thus forcing them into finding other sources of income. Eventually, that became difficult, which forced them to migrate either to Guatemala City or the United States in hopes of a better future. My Abuelita was partially affected by this because when Guatemalan’s from the countryside began to come to the city, jobs were beginning to become scarcer and this became one of the reasons why she came to the United States.

Neoclassical Economics

Neoclassical Economics assumes that all individuals are rational beings that look at the costs and benefits of their decision whether or not to migrate. If someone begins to think about migrating to the United States, they look at the benefits: jobs, money and other opportunities. These factors outweigh the costs which are the long journey to the US and the dangers associated with it. If the benefits outweigh the costs, then they will decide to migrate. These costs and benefits could be seen in Guatemalan migration. For Guatemalans, more opportunity and relief from the war outweighed the potential dangers of crossing the desert to the United States. For my Abuelita, the benefits of leaving an abusive relationship, job opportunity, opportunities for her children and a better life outweighed the long journey with 2 young children. The cost, however, was leaving behind her home country, family and a stable job.

Segmented Labor Market

Segmented Labor Market shows us the division that the labor market has now taken in society. The labor market before was split into three parts: high paying jobs with high benefits, middle class “blue collar” jobs that had decent pay and benefits and low paying jobs with little to no benefits. Segmented Labor Market theory assumes that these “blue collar” jobs are no longer available due to advancing technology and machinery. Therefore, people are either in high or low paying brackets of society. In the case of Guatemalan migrants, they fell more into the low paying jobs of society that consisted of housekeeping, janitorial or landscaping positions. This theory makes it difficult more these migrants to move higher in society because the higher paying jobs are those that require extensive education background and are positioned such as doctors and lawyers. My Abuelita was a nurse back in Guatemala which could have potentially made her part of the middle-class in the United States but due to no official certification and lack of education, she became part of the lower class.

New Economics of Labor Migration

The New Economics of Labor Migration tells us that the decision for migration should be taken upon as a household decision and not an individual decision. This allows for some family members to migrate to the United States and be able to obtain a job and send income and resources back to the home country. In the case of Guatemalan migration, to this day, many who migrate to the U.S. to send money back to their home country to help sustain other family. For my Abuelita, this was not a household decision but rather an individual one, therefore, this theory would not apply to her. However, after arriving to the United States and earning an income she did decide to send money back to other family members in order to help sustain them.

Policies

 People that left Guatemala and came to the United States because of the civil war could not apply for political asylum. The success rate was at approximately 2% in the 1980s (Menjivar: 2002). In 1992, the success rate rose to 18% after filing a class action suit against INS for discrimination (Menjivar: 2002). “Many Guatemalans who remained in the United States illegally were later able to legalize their status. The settlement from the class-action suit American Baptist Churches (ABC) v. Thornburgh in 1991 allowed them to reapply for asylum” (Migration Policy Institute: 2006) That is why the percentage of acceptance for political asylum rose drastically, but it was still not a high percentage. “Also, in 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which allowed undocumented aliens who had resided in the United States for a certain period of time to apply for legal permanent resident status, benefited 59,863 Guatemalans” (Migration Policy Institute: 2006). However, in 1997, the Clinton administration increased the budget for INS and passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) that basically deported immigrants who had just arrived and people who were waiting to go into their asylum hearing (Foxen and Rodman: 2012). I am unsure how these policies affected my family’s migration experience because I don’t know when my grandparents filed for citizenship or if they thought of applying for political asylum.