During the Salvadoran civil war, the United States rarely granted political asylum to Salvadoran war refugees.
I know this from my reporting during that period. Between 1984 and 1990, I traveled extensively to El Salvador as a Time correspondent.
Salvadorans fleeing the war were often treated as unauthorized immigrants and denied the benefits and protections afforded to refugees from other regions. Many were detained, pressured to accept “voluntary return,” or deported without being informed of their right to seek asylum. Fewer than three percent of Salvadoran applicants were granted refugee status or asylum during the civil war years.
The U.S. government was unwilling to recognize Salvadorans as refugees or asylees, as doing so would have contradicted its foreign policy stance and acknowledgment of human rights abuses by its ally.
Typically, officials characterized them as “economic migrants” rather than people fleeing persecution despite widespread violence and human rights violations in El Salvador.
For the longest time, I was certain that the United States would steadily become a better country. Obama’s election seemed to signal that, but it was a false sign.
Today, we are witnessing the ugly and disturbing mistreatment of Salvadorans once again. Trump and his stooges appear to delight in unlawfully deporting Salvadorans who have not been criminally convicted. It is revolting to hear the tortured reasoning used to subject people to cruel and unusual punishment.
Ricardo Chavira Chicano 