Flight to freedom : the story of Central American refugees in California /

This book anthologizes the stories of eight leaders in the Salvadoran refugee community in California. The interviews focus on pioneers in organizations, yet reflect a collective transnational memory and experience of a Salvadoran diaspora hoping to raise consciousness and reforms for other migrants in the US. Due to civil unrest and violence in El Salvador, over one million refugees fled to the US during the 1980s, the majority settling in California. The result is that California is now home to 60 percent of the Salvadoran population in the US, who send over one billion dollars annually in remittances to the home country. Salvadoran immigrants founded a number of social justice organizations, such as the Salvadoran American Leadership Fund (SALEF) and CARECEN (Central American Resource Center), as well as the first Central American studies program at California State Univ., Northridge. Common themes among interviewees include the spurs for migration following the murder of religious figures, the disappearance of family, or the closing of schools; US foreign policy that caused migration, prevented return, and affected legal status; and, finally, the importance of solidarity with other Latin American refugees and those involved with the sanctuary movement in the US. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. S. M. Green California State University--Chico