Leaving Lima Behind
Leaving Lima Behind
The Immigration of Peruvian Professionals to Miami
In the 1990s, the arrival in Miami of many older, highly trained Latin American professionals who did not have legal status or English language skills challenged our understanding of what we knew about the experiences of middle-class immigrants in the United States. This chapter discusses the economic and political circumstances that led middle-class Peruvian professionals to leave their country in search of better opportunities in Miami. Using in-depth interviews conducted over a fifteen-year period, this study shows how these professionals reconciled their personal identities and professional backgrounds to overcome the initial challenges they encountered. These immigrants viewed their lack of legal status and language skills as only temporary and were confident that their economic and social capital, coupled with their educational backgrounds, would eventually allow them to regain the lives they had left behind. Within twenty years of their arrival in Miami, they were able to secure legal status and are now once again leading successful professional lives
Keywords: Peru, Latin American immigrants, Miami, class, social capital, legal status, language skills
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