Ecuadorian Americans
 
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
(Ecuadorian  ) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| New York City, Northern New Jersey,Connecticut, Florida, California, and much of Texas (including Houston and Dallas) | |
| Languages | |
| American English, Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Major: Roman Catholicism, Protestantism Minor: Judaism |
(Ecuadorian
564,631 (2013)
Ecuadorian Americans (Spanish: ecuatorio-americanos, norteamericanos de origen ecuatoriano or estadounidenses de origen ecuatoriano) are Americans of full or partial Ecuadorian ancestry. Ecuadorian Americans can be Mestizo, White Spaniard, Afro-Ecuadorian, Indigenous, Mulato, or Zambo. Some Ecuadorians are also of Lebanese, Sephardic and Japanese descent.
Until the 1960s, very few Ecuadorians migrated to the United States. In the late 1960s, several waves of migration started. Most Ecuadorian immigration to the United States has occurred since the early 1970s. This emigration was because of several reasons: The first of them was that United States immigration law changed.
Before 1965, national quotas on immigrants favored more European immigration than Latin American immigration. After 1965, changes in immigration law made it easier for Latin Americans and other foreign groups to emigrate to United States. In addition, the price of air travel lowered making immigration more accessible to Latin Americans. They were drawn to the U.S. for economic opportunities and political freedoms.
Ecuadorian immigration peaked in the political turmoil of 1996-97 and national banking crisis of 1998-99. Another factor in Ecuadorian emigration was the 1964 Ecuadorian land reform. This improved the lives of many Ecuadorian poor, but also had far-reaching and unpredictable consequences. Many new small landowners were forced to sell their land. Many landowners abandoned their land and migrated to countries like Venezuela and the United States.
Most immigrants who live in the United States send money home. Many immigrants get American citizenship, others simply are legalized, while other groups live illegally, crossing the border from Mexico or entering by boat from Puerto Rico. Ecuadorian Americans come from every part of Ecuador. During the 1970s, most of the Ecuadorians came from the northern and central highlands, including the area around Quito.
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Wikipedia