Salvadoran town deeply rooted in DC unfazed by US politics

[Judi Lynn]

Martha Mendoza, Associated Press
Updated 11:29 pm CDT, Monday, August 20, 2018

INTIPUCA, El Salvador (AP) — In a quiet, cobblestoned town near the Pacific coast of El Salvador, residents are unfazed by the fact that the Trump Administration is seeking to lock up families indefinitely and ending temporary protected status for people from their country. They're still going north.

"The people in this town know a lot of people get deported or stuck on the road, but still they go, sometimes with family, sometimes alone," said Sgt. Ambrosio Vasquez Garcia, the local police chief.

In Intipuca, immigrating to the U.S. — and particularly Washington D.C. — has been a way of life for 50 years. Going to DC is a rooted part of the community's habits, beliefs and customs. Half the town's population is there and many of its homes are empty. Former residents now in the U.S. support Intipuca, even paying for teachers at the local public school, making sure children learn English.

Going to Washington D.C., more than 3,000 miles to the north, is a migration pattern that began in the 1960s. Some have visas and go back and forth legally. Others pay smugglers with successful records of moving residents through Mexico and across the U.S. border: $7,000 for one person, $11,000 if they're bringing a child.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Salvadoran-town-deeply-rooted-in-DC-unfazed-by-US-13170318.php