 Refugees in a hunger strike at the Olivera Street Church. |
1984 By 1984 more than 500,000 Central American refugees arrive in the Los Angeles area due to the escalation of the war in El Salvador. CARECEN and the Central American Refugee Committee (CRECEN) organize a nine-day walk from Riverside to Los Angeles to provide human rights abuse testimonials at churches to educate the people of the United States about the injustice of the Salvadoran civil war. CARECEN works with Salvadoran refugees to build and organize the sanctuary movement by providing testimonials regarding human rights abuses in El Salvador. Many churches and community members in Los Angeles provide housing and refuge for Salvadorans including La Placita Olvera (named an official "Sanctuary"), Father Luis Olivares, UCLA, UC Berkeley and Cal State LA (in addition to other colleges and universities) provide refugee assistance. Salvadoran refugee members of CARECEN and CRECEN go on a fifteen-day hunger strike at La Placita Olvera Church in December to denounce deportations of Salvadoran refugees by the Reagan administration. CARECEN legal services expand to advocate for refugee human rights, political asylum, and call for an end to U.S. intervention in El Salvador. |