Salvadorans
Robert Gumpert, Lettuce, 2001. Members of a Salvadoran crew harvest Romaine lettuce in the Imperial Valley.
The Sanctuary Movement
Many cities, appalled by the violence in El Salvador as well as the U.S. government's reluctance to protect the refugees, passed various forms of sanctuary laws. These laws guarded undocumented Salvadoran immigrants from deportation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles passed such laws in the 1980s, pioneering the Sanctuary Movement. Their efforts were paired by those of clergy from numerous religious denominations who offered church protection to Salvadorans in the U.S. Many other U.S. citizens, including legal advocates, worked to raise awareness of the plight of the refugees and struggled to secure legal immigrant status for them.
About half a million Salvadorans came to the U.S. over the course of the war. Today over 270,000 Salvadorans call California home. Most live in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas.