20th century
A01=Maria Cristina Garcia
america
asylum policies
Author_Maria Cristina Garcia
canada
Category=JBFH
Category=JBSL
Category=JHBD
Category=NHTB
central america
central american history
church groups
costa rica
domestic policies
el salvador
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
foreign policy
guatemala
historians
honduras
human rights
human rights activists
human rights organizations
immigration
mexico
migrant experiences
migration
nicaragua
nonfiction
north america
post september 11
refugee crisis
refugee experience
refugee policies
refugees
regional history
united states
Product details
- ISBN 9780520247017
- Weight: 408g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 06 Mar 2006
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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The political upheaval in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala had a devastating human toll at the end of the twentieth century. A quarter of a million people died during the period 1974-1996. Many of those who survived the wars chose temporary refuge in neighboring countries such as Honduras and Costa Rica. Others traveled far north, to Mexico, the United States, and Canada in search of safety. Over two million of those who fled Central America during this period settled in these three countries. In this incisive book, Maria Cristina Garcia tells the story of that migration and how domestic and foreign policy interests shaped the asylum policies of Mexico, the United States, and Canada. She describes the experiences of the individuals and non-governmental organizations - primarily church groups and human rights organizations - that responded to the refugee crisis, and worked within and across borders to shape refugee policy.These transnational advocacy networks collected testimonies, documented the abuses of states, re-framed national debates about immigration, pressed for changes in policy, and ultimately provided a voice for the displaced.
Garcia concludes by addressing the legacies of the Central American refugee crisis, especially recent attempts to coordinate a regional response to the unique problems presented by immigrants and refugees - and the challenges of coordinating such a regional response in the post-9/11 era.
Maria Cristina Garcia is Associate Professor of History at Cornell University and the author of Havana USA: Cuban Exiles and Cuban Americans in South Florida, 1959-1994 (California, 1996).
