The Salvadoran civil war was one of the most violent and extended clashes in the world. More than five hundred thousand people that were casted out moved northward, first into Mexico and then towards the United States border. The passage of the immigration reform and control act was proven to be a turning point for Salvadorans.
During the El Salvador Civil War, in 1981, tens of thousands of Salvadorans started to flee the country. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials reported a huge increase in Salvadoran people being detained along the Mexican border. Many of the people being detained had told many stories about being coerced from their homes, and about the increase of civil strife. "America is deeply implicated in the migration flow and its destiny. American employers fuel the immigration, American foreign policy embraces it, and American family values maintain it. As a nation, we have been there before. America thrives on its immigrant heritage. Part history, part ideology, immigration embodies the theme of national renewal, rebirth, hope. Uprooted abroad, newcomers have become transplants in a land that promises opportunity.” Said B. Lindsay Lowell.
El Salvador was not on the list of countries with refugee exemption. This allows the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport Salvadorans that were being detained. In August 1981, someone with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees made a statement that 305,000 Salvadorans had either fled violence, or had been coerced from homes during the previous year. Many Salvadorans had been captured by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The majority of those that were captured had been deported. The total number of Salvadoran deportations in the year of nineteen-eighty-one was ten-thousand-four-hundred-seventy-three. The cost for each deportation was approximately above three-hundred dollars. The total amount of cost on all of the deportations were over three-million dollars.
By January nineteen-eighty-two, in contrast to what the increasing number of Salvadorian Refugees being captured on the Mexican Border was, Salvadoran refugees were still considered economic migrants. After giving the necessary aid and the improvement of human rights there was no talk of any major reforms being passed. The Reagan administration argued that with great leadership El Salvador will be just fine. El Salvador was under the rule of José Napoleón Duarte at that time. “During the 1970s and 1980s the United States experienced substantial growth in undocumented immigration. Conservative estimates suggest that as many as three to four million undocumented immigrants were living in the United States in 1980. Moreover, the best evidence available on the subject indicates that this population grew by 200,000 persons per year during the 1970s, and probably by roughly similar numbers during the 1980s.” Elaine Sorensen.
In April of 1983, Joseph Moakley (Massachusetts democratic congressman) sent a letter with the support of 88 members of the House to the Secretary of state. In the letter, Moakley begged the State Department to offer extended Voluntary Departure status for all Salvadorans. This is similar to what Jimmy Carter had done for the Nicaraguans. As a result, Extended Voluntary Departure suspended deportations and allowed Salvadorans to stay in the United States until the Salvador situation was secure. "Although the Sanctuary Movement helped Moakley’s bill gain more traction than Kennedy’s earlier proposal, it was met with staunch resistance from administration officials. By virtue of the advisory committees created under the 1980 act, the State Department still held preponderant power over refugee decisions. Elliott Abrams disparaged the larger portion of Salvadoran refugees who had entered the United States illegally and only ex post facto demanded asylum status, the equivalent of refugee status for foreign nationals living in the United States." Stephan Macekura.
El Salvador was not on the list of countries with refugee exemption. This allows the Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport Salvadorans that were being detained. In August 1981, someone with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees made a statement that 305,000 Salvadorans had either fled violence, or had been coerced from homes during the previous year. Many Salvadorans had been captured by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The majority of those that were captured had been deported. The total number of Salvadoran deportations in the year of nineteen-eighty-one was ten-thousand-four-hundred-seventy-three. The cost for each deportation was approximately above three-hundred dollars. The total amount of cost on all of the deportations were over three-million dollars.
By January nineteen-eighty-two, in contrast to what the increasing number of Salvadorian Refugees being captured on the Mexican Border was, Salvadoran refugees were still considered economic migrants. After giving the necessary aid and the improvement of human rights there was no talk of any major reforms being passed. The Reagan administration argued that with great leadership El Salvador will be just fine. El Salvador was under the rule of José Napoleón Duarte at that time. “During the 1970s and 1980s the United States experienced substantial growth in undocumented immigration. Conservative estimates suggest that as many as three to four million undocumented immigrants were living in the United States in 1980. Moreover, the best evidence available on the subject indicates that this population grew by 200,000 persons per year during the 1970s, and probably by roughly similar numbers during the 1980s.” Elaine Sorensen.
In April of 1983, Joseph Moakley (Massachusetts democratic congressman) sent a letter with the support of 88 members of the House to the Secretary of state. In the letter, Moakley begged the State Department to offer extended Voluntary Departure status for all Salvadorans. This is similar to what Jimmy Carter had done for the Nicaraguans. As a result, Extended Voluntary Departure suspended deportations and allowed Salvadorans to stay in the United States until the Salvador situation was secure. "Although the Sanctuary Movement helped Moakley’s bill gain more traction than Kennedy’s earlier proposal, it was met with staunch resistance from administration officials. By virtue of the advisory committees created under the 1980 act, the State Department still held preponderant power over refugee decisions. Elliott Abrams disparaged the larger portion of Salvadoran refugees who had entered the United States illegally and only ex post facto demanded asylum status, the equivalent of refugee status for foreign nationals living in the United States." Stephan Macekura.