History of Central Americans in Houston
Beginning in the late 1970s Central American countries began experiencing economic and political instability.
[3] In the 1980s, Due to social political problems,[4] a wave of immigration from Central America occurred,[5] with people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua arriving.
[3] They settled southwest and west Houston because of a large amount of low income housing that was left vacant by Anglos during the 1980s oil bust.
Catholic nuns and priests took efforts to find shelter and food for Central American refugees.
[14] Rodriguez stated that the number of Guatemalans was "substantially smaller" and was "probably fewer than half of the Salvadoran population, perhaps 10,000 to 15,000" in 1986.
[16] Nestor Rodriguez, author of "Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston," wrote that Central American immigrants' "[n]ational identities became the basis for their residential, workplace, and recreational groupings in Central American settlement areas.
[6] In 1990 the median household income of Central Americans was $17,429 and 6% of those aged 25 or older had a bachelor's degree.
The indigena Guatemalans were bilingual in Spanish and languages such as Kaqchikel (Cakchikel), Kiche' (Quiche), and Mam.
[20] Due to the influx of Central American immigrants, by the 1980s foods such as pupusas from El Salvador and Guatemalan tamales de maiz began having a presence in Houston.
[22][23] On the opening day, news channels reported on Latin Americans, including Guatemalans and Salvadorans, waiting up to five hours in line to get their food from Pollo Campero.
[25] Other Central American consulates include those of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.
[26] In 1992 the Salvadoran Civil War ended but CARECEN continued to provide legal services, publications, and advocacy for Central American immigrants.
[27] The 2012 novel The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Pérez, based on the 2006 death of Gabriel Granillo,[28] has a Salvadoran American main character.
