Salvadorean Immigrants
Since 1972, when the civil war in El Salvador started between the US supported government and the now disappeared Soviet Union supported guerrillas; many Salvadorian natives had to flee their homes and towns for fear of their lives, many settled along the abandoned sites of the overpopulated capital of San Salvador and many came to the US. This immigration to the United States of Salvadorians causes family separation, cultural changes and loss of moral values.
Family separation starts when the husband or wife leaves home with the hope of helping his or her needed family by sending money as soon as he or she gets a job. After traveling illegally for more than a month through Guatemala and Mexico, using the little money in their pockets, they arrive in the US. When they get here, they stress to find a job to help their starving family. It is easier for a woman to find a job, since she can work as a baby sitter or a housekeeper, but a man has to find work in construction or washing dishes in a small restaurant where they don’t ask for documents.
Finding a job also depends what State of the Union they move too, because some seem to be more lenient on hiring illegal aliens. Once they start working, it could take them more than a year or two to collect enough money to pay a smuggler to bring their spouse from El Salvador, but if they take longer than that, it will be almost impossible for the family to stay together since he or she might find someone else to start a new family with and even have new children.
Cultural changes are part of a sad side that Salvadorian immigrants face on his or her everyday life in the US. The majority of Hispanic immigrants that live in this country have a Mexican ethnicity, so Salvadorians end up talking Spanish with a Mexican accent and make using Mexican idioms and expression a new part of their vocabulary. It is also important to mention that instead of celebrating “El 15 de Septiembre” as El Salvador’s Independence Day, they celebrate it as the Mexican Independence day, adopting in the confusion “El 5 de Mayo” as part of their own traditions and end up forgetting their National Anthem and their Pledge of Allegiance as well as most of their traditional meals and dances.
Moral values are lost as part of the transition and integration in the new society. Children disrespect their parents because they feel protected by authorities; husbands lose the fear if staying out late and they become disloyal, and if they are single here, they forget about their families and parents back in El Salvador. These Salvadorians lose total control of their lives and their ambitions for a better future and are satisfied with the few dollars they make an hour and the they never go back to school to learn English or get a degree.
My opinion is that we need to adapt to the new culture and society as necessary to survive but we can still kept our traditions and customs without forgetting our roots; If the Irish, Mexican and Chinese have done that, I’m sure that Salvadorians can do it too.