AbrahamRamirez

FrijolesEnElPlatoDeAmrica
Rebelliousriots,civilwars,exiles,unstablegovernment,drugs,gangs,andbloodycoups
arebigfactorscausingeconomicalissuesandarepushingHonduranimmigrantstotheUnited
StatesOver300,000HonduranshaveimmigratedtotheUnitedStatesfromtheyear2000
through2008,duetogreatdepressingeconomicproblems.1Withalonghistoryofpolitical
changeandpoliticalcorruption,ithascontinuouslypushedHonduranimmigrantstotheU.Sin
hopeofabetterlife.

PoliticalissuesinHondurasstillcontinuetobeamajorpushfactorforHonduran
immigration.Hondurashasalongtoxicpoliticalhistory.PoliticalhardshiparosewhenHonduras
triedtodeclareitsindependencefromSpainin1821byjoiningtheUnitedProvinceofCentral
America.TheywonindependencefromSpainonOctober26,1838.TheUnitedProvinceof
CentralAmericawasformedinarepublicandemocracyfrom1821andendedin1841.Itwasa
sovereignstatethattookholdofHonduras,Guatemala,ElSalvador,Nicaragua,andCostaRica.
AllofthiswasemperorbyFranciscoMorazanpresidentoftheFederalRepublicofCentral
America(UnitedProvinceofCentralAmerica).BeforeMorazanwaspresidentoftheFederal
RepublicofCentralAmerica,heownedHonduras.Lateron,Morazanoverpoweredthemilitary
andpoliticalpartofCentralAmericaandbecauseofhisaimtomakeCentralAmericaonenation
whiletryingtomakeliberalimprovements.Hewasunsuccessfultomaintainthefederation

http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/555honduranimmigrants.html

together,causingirrevocablefracturescreatingacivilwarbetweenconservativesandliberals.
ThissplitCentralAmericainto5nations,andcausedahugedecreaseinwealthinCentral
America.FranciscoMorazanwasthenexiledtoSanJoseCostaRica,in1840andmurderedin
1842therefore,resultinginsmallwavesofimmigrationthroughoutCostaRica.2

TheBananaIndustryCompanywasapushfactorforHonduranimmigrationtotheU.S.
during1899causedbythecompanysexpansion.In1902,itwasdecidedtoexpandthe
companybyconstructingarailroadalongthecaribbeancoastinCentralAmerica.Throughout
thistimeanewpresidentwaselectedJoseSantosZelaya,establishingnewlawsthatsupported
variouscompaniesinHonduras.TheBananaIndustryCompany'sgrowthwassohuge,the
UnitedStateswasinterestedinforminganalliancewithHonduraspresident,benefitingboth
countriesbyexpandingtheBananaIndustrytotheU.S..Doingso,wouldincreasetheir
economicsinagoodwaybyshortingthewaveofimmigrationaroundCostaRica,sincesuch
growthcausedHondurastobestable,afterallthedisputesandcivilwars.3Thisleadtoan
immigrationwaveofHonduranimmigrantstotheU.S.becauseofthecountriesinteractions
abouttheindustrywiththeUnitedStatesbuildingsmallcommunitiesofHonduransaroundafew
cities.TheyworkedinasfacilitatorsthatexportandimportbananasthroughouttheAmerica.4

2
3

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/knowledge/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Honduras_(1932%E2%80%9382)

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/hondurasperilsremittancedependenceandclandestine
migration

Sincethesplitbetweenthe5nationsinCentralAmerica,alotofinstabilityarosein
HondurascausingmoreHonduranimmigration.Hondurascurrentpresidentin1902,createda
bordertoseparateHondurasfromNicaraguaandtoavoidanyinvasionhecreatedafriendship
pactwithGuatemalaandElSalvador.JoseSantosZelaya,presidentofNicaraguasawthepact
andunderminedHonduraspresident.Becauseofthecivilwarthatbrokeoutbetweenliberalsand
conservatives,manyliberalswereexiled.JoseSantosZelayathensupportedtheHondurasexiled
liberalswithaimstooverthrowHonduraspresident.DuetoNicaragua'sconnectionwiththe
exiles,NicaraguasmilitaryjoinedforceswiththeexilesandinvadedHondurascausingwarin
1907.Affectingthebananaindustry,theU.S.governmentsteppedinbysendingMarinetroops
toprotectHondurasandputtingahalttothewar.Manyimmigrantsthentriedtomigratetothe
U.S.becauseofthedisputesthewarcreated.However,onlyafewexceededmanywerecaught
anddeportedback.TheU.S.alliancewiththeBananaIndustrycausedthemtogetinvolvedwith
CostaRicasissueswhilehavingtroubletocontrolthewaveofHonduranimmigrantsillegally
enteringtheU.S.thisbecameaproblemaftertheU.S.allowedtheBananaIndustryCompanys
workerstoworkasfacilitatorsintheUnitedStates.5

In1907,theU.S.wantedtostoptheissuesinCentralAmericaandtheamountof
immigrationenteringtheircountry.Afterthewar,ageneralsteppeduptoleadHonduras,which
didntpleaseNicaraguaspresidentTherefore,causingNicaraguastoarrangedasecret
settlementwithElSalvadortodriveoutthegeneral.Unfortunately,theplanfailedtoreachits
aimalertingtheUnitedStatesgovernment.Therefore,causingtheU.S.toarrangeaconference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Honduras_(1932%E2%80%9382)

withall5nationsinCentralAmerica,andallsignedtheTreatyofPeaceandAmityin1907,to
stopfuturedisputes.Duringthistimeperiod,theUnitedStatesGovernmentestablishedthe
ImmigrationActof1907tocontroltheimmigrationwavescomingfromCentralAmerica.6

In1908,anotherattempttooverthrowthegeneralrunningHondurasfailed,butcauseda
lotofinstabilityinHondurasandadebtover120milliondollars.Railroadsexpandedthrough
HondurasagainincreasingtheBananaIndustry.OtherrivalcompaniessuchasCuyamelFruit
CompanyandStandardFruitCompanygeneralstrikedHondurasnation.TheUnitedStates
ceasedtheattackandHondurasinstabilityincreased.However,throughoutthistimeonlyafew
HonduranimmigrantswereintheUnitedStatesthroughout19001930sonlyaboutafew600
HonduranswereinAmerica.7

Inthemid1900s,animmigrationoutbreakaroseintheUnitedStates.During1963,
Hondurasmilitaryweregatheredinabloodycouptotakedowntheirpresident.They
successfullyachievedtheirmissionandweregivenpoweroverthegovernment,owning
Honduras.Withsuchcorruptact,Honduraswasundermilitaryforcein1963through1982.8This
leadHonduranimmigrationtoincreaseintheU.S.duringthe1960s.About15,000Hondurans
legallyimmigratedtoAmerica.9

http://www.historycentral.com/documents/immigrationact.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Honduras_(1932%E2%80%9382)
8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Honduras_(1932%E2%80%9382
9

http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/555honduranimmigrants.html
6
7

ImmigrationfromElSalvadortoHonduraswascausingalotofissuesbetweenthetwo
countries.In1970,ElSalvadorattackedHondurasmilitaryforceandcivilizationafterasoccer
gamefortheworldcupHondurasagainstSanSalvador.Salvador'slossirkedSalvadorevenmore
whichleadthemtostrikeHonduras.ThiscausedHonduranimmigrationtotheU.S.mostofthe
immigrantscrossedillegally.HonduranscametotheU.S.inseekofpeaceandwealthWithso
mucheconomichardshipwithallthecivilwars,HondurasbecamethepoorestcountryinCentral
Americacausingemploymentcurrencydecrease,andunemploymentincrease.Manymigratedto
startabetterlifeandtorecieveabettereducationfortheirkidsandthemselves.Otherssought
theAmericanDream.10

In1998,theimmigrationtotheU.S.increaseddramatically,duetoahurricanestruck
Hondurasleavingthemin2.005billiondollarsofdamagewith1.08billiondollarsaddedwith
indirectcosts.70percentoftheircropsandtransportationinfrastructuresweredamaged.70
percentoftheirwaterwaslostandthecountryhadapoweroutage.About3.8billiondollarsof
damagewascaused.About283,000illegalHonduranimmigrantswereintheU.S.byearly
twentiethcenturyhalfamillionHonduranslivedinAmerica,70percentofthemwereillegal.11

InConclusion,HonduranimmigrationcontinuestogrowintheUnitedStatessince
CentralAmericaisveryunstablewitheconomicissuesandpoliticalchanges.Honduran

10
11

http://www.everyculture.com/multi/HaLa/HonduranAmericans.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Honduras_(1932%E2%80%9382)

immigrantsarethelargestimmigrantgroup,buildingcommunitiesinlargecitiesintheUnited
States.Howeverabout60percentofallHonduranimmigrantslivebelowthelineofpoverty.12

12

http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/555honduranimmigrants.html