Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user. The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
Two small girls sit inside of a Salvadoran Air Force helicopter at a refugee camp in Santa Tecla. They are to be transported to San Salvador. They and many, many more others like them were displaced from their homes by the conflict. According to the Migration Policy Institute, over 1 million Salvadorans were displaced during the 12-year conflict. Many sought refuge within El Salvador and also in neighboring countries in Central America. Many others fled to Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Furthermore, as the New York Times reported in 1983, while President Ronald Reagan and his administration and political allies contributed to the conflict and its consequences with political rhetoric and military aid, they resisted pressure to allow the more than 500,000 refugees from El Salvador to remain in the United States. Reagan and his administration cited that granting asylum or even temporary legal status would, “invite millions of impoverished Central Americans to seek a better life here,” and that the vast majority were not in fact “political refugees” who would face certain persecution or death if they were deported back to El Salvador, but “economic migrants” who were just escaping poverty. Richard Cross took this image in 1982 while covering the presidential election and War of Liberation in El Salvador. Dos niñas yacen sentadas dentro de un helicóptero de la Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña en un campo de refugiados en Santa Tecla. Ella serán transportadas a San Salvador. Ellas y muchas tantas como ellas fueron desplazadas de sus casas por el conflicto. Según el Migration Policy Institute, más de un millón de salvadoreños fueron desplazados durante el conflicto que duró más de 12 años. Muchos de ellos buscaron refugio dentro de El Salvador y también en los países vecinos en centroamérica. Muchos también huyeron hacia México, los Estados Unidos, Canadá y Australia. Además, como reportó el diario New York Times en 1983, mientras el presidente estadounidense Ronald Reagan y su administración y aliados politicos contribuyeron al conflicto y a sus consecuencias con retórica política y asistencia militar, ellos resistieron permitir a más de 500,000 refugiados salvadoreños permanecer en los Estados Unidos. El presidente Reagan y su administración citaron la idea de que conceder asilo o estatus legal temporal solamente “invitaría a millones de centroamericanos empobrecidos a buscar una mejor vida aquí”, y que la mayoría no eran “refugiados politicos” que enfrentarían la persecución o muerte si fuesen deportados a El Salvador, sino “migrantes económicos” que solamente buscaban escaper de la pobreza. Richard Cross tomó esta fotografía en 1982 durante su estadía en El Salvador cubriendo las elecciones y la guerra de liberación.
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