Guatemalan Americans
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Guatemalan Americans (, or ) are
Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...
of full or partial Guatemalan descent. The Guatemalan American population at the 2010 Census was 1,044,209. Guatemalans are the sixth largest Hispanic group in the United States and the second largest Central American population after
Salvadorans Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...
. Half of the Guatemalan population is situated in two parts of the country, the Northeast and
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. The states with the largest Guatemalan population are
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
(29%),
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(8%) and
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
(7%).


History of Guatemalans in the United States

Guatemalans have migrated to the U.S. since the 1930s and 1940s. Along with other Central Americans they first arrived by way of Mexico and settled in urban areas like
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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, and
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. The largest influx of Guatemalans into the United States, however, started occurring in the 1970s and 1980s, peaking in the 1990s due to the
Guatemalan Civil War The Guatemalan Civil War was fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various Left-wing politics, leftist rebel groups. The Guatemalan government forces committed Guatemalan genocide, genocide against the Maya population o ...
. Tens of thousands of Guatemalan
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s moved into the United States via Mexico; these refugees were both documented and undocumented. The Guatemalan Civil War ended in 1996. After
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, new laws were enacted in Mexico limiting immigration visas and introduced other measures on the southern Mexican border through ''Plan Sur'', a binational treaty with the Guatemalan government. There were 430,000 undocumented Guatemalans by 2008. 71% of Guatemalan immigrants are undocumented.


Immigration

During the 1950s, there were 45,000 documented immigrants from Central America. In the 1960s, this number more than doubled to 100,000. In the decade after, it increased to 134,000. 26,000 of these immigrants were Guatemalan. Following the 1950s, Guatemala had been full of unrest with military dictatorships, civil wars, and a thirty-six year long guerrilla war. Those wars produced over 200,000 deaths, as well as the displacement of nearly one million
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s. In 1996, the Guatemalan government signed a peace accord. This ended the war; however, the war did not end for many Guatemalans who had to live alongside those who inflicted violence throughout their country. During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, many Guatemalans immigrated to the United States due to the lack of stability from U.S. intervention. Consequently, many Guatemalans received Temporary Protected Status during that time period. These same Guatemalans lost that status once the war ended. Migration from Central America had always been below 50,000. However, in 1970, the census had counted 113,913 Central American immigrants. 17,536 of those immigrants were of Guatemalan descent. This was a dramatic increase from the 5,381 count from the decade prior. The 1970s was when the United States experienced a high increase of Guatemalans. According to the 1970 census, there were 17,356 Guatemalans. This is a stark increase considering that there were only 5,381 Guatemalans when the 1960 census was taken. Immigration to the United States from Guatemala truly increased in 1977 with a total of 3,599. This was an 82% increase since the year prior. For the most part, this was due to the lack of stability within Guatemala's agricultural economy. For many Guatemalans, the agricultural economy was the job market for the disadvantaged. This market was not enough to sustain Guatemalans at the time - the unemployment rate was 25% and the poverty rate was at 84% In the 1970s, Guatemala experienced a culmination of factors that decreased their ability to uplift themselves from poverty. The infant mortality rate between 1970–1973 in Guatemala was around 82%. These circumstances included an increasing unemployment rate, as well as decreasing wages and opportunities in the rural sector. In 1976, they experienced an earthquake that left many homeless. These factors combined with the general violence caused many Guatemalans to look toward internal, intraregional, and international migration throughout the 1970s and 1980s. When fleeing conflict, many Guatemalans sought refuge in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. For many, Mexico was just another transit point within their journeys. In 1982, Mexico experienced an economic crisis, which had made it difficult for many Guatemalans to sustain themselves. This helps explain the increase of Guatemalans entering the United States throughout the 1980s. Many indigenous Guatemalan workers in Mexico were recruited to work with companies within the United States. Many of these workers were already workers in Central American assembly plants. Therefore, the skills were transferable to plants in the United States. As a result, many moved to Los Angeles during the 1970s. Unemployment increased from 25% in the 1970s to over 40% in the 1980s. Rural poverty was at 84% and urban poverty was at 47%. This was difficult for many impoverished Guatemalans, because many were reliant on the agricultural economy as their source of employment. During the 1980s, many revolutionary/guerrilla groups merged together to become the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG); the Guatemalan government responded with military action, which included the
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
of 150,000 civilians during 1981 to 1983. Ultimately, this formed a ripple effect, which led to displacement and migration to both Mexico and the United States for many Guatemalans and
Mayas Maya () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical region. Today ...
. Mass migration from Guatemala occurred during the 1980s; as a result, changing the relationship with the United States. During this time, Guatemala was experiencing high levels of poverty along with social and political unrest. Guatemalans sought refuge during the 1980s due to civil war and economic devastation. However, at the time, they were not granted asylum. Despite, this female asylum-seekers have been able to receive asylum since then. Femicide has become more prevalent in Guatemala. In this manner, many United States courts have been granting asylum due to the increase in femicide in Guatemala. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was passed in the United States in 1986. Following IRCA, most documented Guatemalan Americans were able to receive legal admission through the petitioning of family members already in the United States. Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) disadvantaged incoming Guatemalan immigrants, because it allowed for documentation to those who entered prior to 1982; however, Guatemalan immigration largely took place after 1982.In 1997, immigration was further limited for Guatemalans through the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act. This act allowed Central American asylum-seekers to be documented in the United States but called for deportation for those undocumented. At the time, many of those people were Guatemalan Americans. Deportation of undocumented immigrants have consequences of socioeconomic mobility within Guatemala. Households in Guatemala that receive money from Guatemalans in the United States are able to pull themselves into a better economic standing. By contrast, households which lose that money experience downward mobility.


Literature in the U.S.

According to Rodriguez, the main themes of Central American literature in the United States are: war, violence, criminality, solidarity, migration, ethnicity, and the construction of identity. Maya Chinchilla is a Guatemalan poet of mixed U.S., German and Guatemalan heritages. In her poem "Central Americanamerican" she "diffracts the construction of Central American identity beyond a geographic notion and along the multiple coordinates of migrations, generations, heritages, languages, ethnicities, races, sexualities, cultures, and discourses magnified in the Central American diasporas." Novels like ''The Tattooed Soldier'' by Héctor Tobar display the cultural significance of Central American identity within U.S. multiculturalism.


Culture


Guatemalan Mayas and Hispanics

Guatemalan Americans are a very culturally diverse group of people, including around 23 distinct ethnic groups, whose languages are different, although they maintain unique cultural traditions. The groups are, on the whole,
Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...
. The Ladino are a different group that speak the
Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...
and have Spanish culture. So, Guatemalan Americans are a multicultural community. This reason is why the assimilation processes, traditional beliefs, and customs vary differently between groups. Most Ladino Guatemalans living in the United States come from Jutiapa, Guatemala City, and Chiquimula. The majority of Ladinos from Jutiapa and Chiquimula live in the northeast, in states such as New Jersey and Massachusetts. Immigrant Maya American communities have preserved their ethnic customs. The Guatemalans of European descent (mostly of Spanish ancestry) often mixed with other U.S. Hispanic groups. However, it is unknown the degree to which the transmission of cultural traditions between Guatemalans immigrants and their descendants occurs due to a lack of research.Some traditions have remained in most neighborhoods of Guatemalan immigrants, especially in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
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and southern
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, where Guatemalan traditions are being both transformed and lost due to American acculturation. Some Guatemalan traditions are the celebration of
Quinceañera In Mexico, Mexican and other Latin American cultures, it is customary to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday. In Spanish language, Spanish, the girl celebrating her 15th birthday is called a ; in English language, English, primarily in the Unite ...
s, the formation of soccer leagues, and the Organization de las Fiestas de la Patronal (Organization of Patronal Parties). There are over one million Maya Natives in the United States- largely from both Mexico and Guatemala. Despite this, the United States fails to recognize Maya Natives as refugees from Guatemala despite the political and social conditions that produce the need for immigration. Mayas are at the bottom of the social stratum in Guatemala. This can be accounted by racism within Guatemalan society, along with the vulnerability that is produced during migration to the United States through Mexico.


Religion

Due largely to influences such as Spanish colonization and U.S. business involvement in Central America, the Indigenous religions of Guatemala have mixed to create a hybrid spirituality and emergent "spiritual forms, practices, and communities as these intersect with other aspects of Hispanic/a identity, such as ethnicity, race, gender and sexuality."


Socioeconomic mobility

Compared to the U.S.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
population and U.S. population in total, Guatemalans are found to have significantly lower levels of educational attainment across the population. They are less likely than U.S. born citizens to earn a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
, with only 9% of Guatemalans age 25 or older having received one in 2013. Despite this, studies demonstrate that Guatemalan Americans have one of the highest levels of participation within the work force. 31% of those Guatemalan Americans work within the
service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...
.


Demographics

Half of the Guatemalan population is situated in two parts of the country, the Northeast and
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. A combined population of 267,335 resides in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and
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counties. There is also a Guatemalan community in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. The
Northeast megalopolis The Northeast megalopolis, also known as the Northeast Corridor, Acela Corridor, Boston–Washington corridor, BosWash, or BosNYWash, is the most populous megalopolis exclusively within the United States, with slightly over 50 million resident ...
, extending from
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to north of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, is home to a population of 257,729 Guatemalans. Cities such as Langley Park, Trenton, Stamford, Providence and Lynn have significant concentrations of Guatemalans along the corridor.


Distribution by state


Cities (metro areas) with the largest Guatemalan populations

The largest population of Guatemalans are situated in the following areas (Source: 2020 ACS 5-Year Estimate): # Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA - 286,250 # New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA - 125,231 # Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA - 81,530 # Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA - 66,829 # Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA - 56,993 # San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA MSA - 51,626 # Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA - 42,457 # Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI MSA - 38,872 # Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA - 36,709 # Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA - 35,917 # Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA - 27,950 # Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA MSA - 27,588 # Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA - 17,575 # Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ MSA - 16,892 # San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA - 13,572 # Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA - 13,563 # Trenton-Princeton, NJ MSA - 15,457 # Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA - 15,417 # Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA - 10,401 # Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN MSA - 9,147


U.S. communities with largest population of people of Guatemalan ancestry

The top 25 U.S. communities with the highest populations of Guatemalans (Source: Census 2020) # Los Angeles, CA – 157,676 # New York City, NY – 42,499 # Houston, TX – 33,210 #
Chicago, IL Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
– 20,885 # Providence, RI – 15,332 # Oakland, CA – 13,492 # Trenton, NJ – 13,323 # Phoenix, AZ – 11,181 # Lynn, MA – 10,615 # Stamford, CT – 10,221 # San Rafael, CA – 8,876 # San Francisco, CA – 7,870 # Oklahoma City, OK – 7,842 # Langley Park, MD – 7,546 # Lake Worth Beach, FL – 7,317 # Plainfield, NJ – 6,958 # Dallas, TX – 6,641 # Long Beach, CA – 6,522 # West Palm Beach, FL – 5,542 # Palmdale, CA – 5,509 # Las Vegas, NV – 5,134 #
Boston, MA Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
– 4,871 # Hawthorne, CA – 4,681 # Miami, FL – 4,545 # Inglewood, CA – 4,172


U.S. communities with high percentages of people of Guatemalan ancestry

The top 25 U.S. communities with the highest percentages of Guatemalans as a percentage (Source: Census 2010): # Marydel, Maryland - 42.55% #
Brewster, New York Brewster is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the principal settlement within the town (New York), town of Southeast, New York, Southeast in Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, United Sta ...
- 38.16% # Indiantown, Florida – 37.15% # Templeville, Maryland – 31.88% #
Georgetown, Delaware Georgetown is a town in and the county seat of Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population of the town is 6,422, an increase of 38.3% over the previous decade. Georgetown is pa ...
– 31.86% # Chamblee, Georgia – 30.89% # Henderson, Maryland – 29.45% #
Langley Park, Maryland Langley Park is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It is located inside the Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway), Capital Beltway, on the northwest edge of Prince George's Coun ...
– 26.81% # Ellijay, Georgia – 19.39% # Lake Worth Beach, Florida – 18.66% # Collinsville, Alabama – 18.51% # East Ellijay, Georgia – 18.31% #
Mount Kisco, New York Mount Kisco is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous municipality, coterminous with the ...
– 16.38% # Fairview, New Jersey – 15.84% # Schuyler, Nebraska – 13.99% # Saluda, South Carolina – 13.74% #
Central Falls, Rhode Island Central Falls is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,583 at the 2020 census. With an area of only , it is the smallest and most densely populated city in the smallest state, and the 23rd most densel ...
– 13.28% # Greenport, New York – 13.06% #
Carthage, Missouri Carthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 15,522 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City." History Jasper County was formed in 1841. ...
– 12.80% # Tice, Florida – 12.70% #
Stuart, Florida Stuart is a city in and the county seat of Martin County, Florida, United States. Located in southeastern Florida, Stuart is the largest of five Municipal corporation, incorporated municipalities in Martin County. The population is 17,425 accordi ...
– 12.62% # Stacy Street, Florida – 12.59% # Modest Town, Virginia – 11.41% #
Trion, Georgia Trion is a town in Chattooga County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,960 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, down from 1,827 at the 2010 census. Trion is the second-largest incorporated community in Chattooga County, whic ...
– 10.84% # Monterey, Tennessee – 10.77%


Notable people

* Adria Arjona – Puerto Rican actress of Guatemalan descent * Luis E. Arreaga – American diplomat and United States Ambassador in Guatemala and
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. *
Luis von Ahn Luis von Ahn (; born 19 August 1978) is a Guatemalan-American entrepreneur and software developer. He is the founder of the company reCAPTCHA, which was sold to Google in 2009, and the co-founder and CEO of Duolingo. For these projects and othe ...
– Entrepreneur and an associate professor in the Computer Science Department at
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...
. * Joseph Baena – American actor, bodybuilder, fitness model and real estate agent. Son of Hollywood actor,
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
. Of Guatemalan descent from his mother's side. * Aston Matthews – American hip hop artist from Los Angeles, California. *
Luis Beza Luis Beza (born January 2, 1985, in Santa Ana, California) was the trumpet player for third-wave ska band Suburban Legends. He joined the band in Summer 2005 after the departure of Aaron Bertram, replacing him on trumpet. In July 2005 Luis s ...
– American trumpet player for third-wave ska band Suburban Legends. * David Campos – Guatemalan-American attorney and member of the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors, legislative body within the government of San Francisco, government of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and polit ...
representing District 9. * René Corado – Guatemalan-American ornithologist and writer. * David Estrada – of Guatemalan descent. *
Francisco Goldman Francisco Goldman (born 1954) is an American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing, Trinity College. His most recent novel, ''Monkey Boy'' (2021), was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Fi ...
– American novelist, journalist, and Allen K. Smith Professor of Literature and Creative Writing. He is son of a
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
n Catholic mother and
Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...
father. * José Antonio GutiérrezUS Marine
Lance Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...
. First US Marine to be killed in action in the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. * Ted Hendricks – Guatemalan born, former
American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...
who logged 15 seasons for the
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(1969–73), the
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(1974) and the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders (1975–83) in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
. *
Oscar Isaac Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is an American actor. Recognized for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latino characters in Cinema of the United States, H ...
– Guatemalan born American raised actor and singer. *
Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...
– Grammy winning mixing engineer. Guatemalan born, his family moved to Los Angeles when he was nine due to the
Guatemalan Civil War The Guatemalan Civil War was fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various Left-wing politics, leftist rebel groups. The Guatemalan government forces committed Guatemalan genocide, genocide against the Maya population o ...
. * Benito Martinez – American actor most known for his role as police captain (later city councilman) David Aceveda in the television series '' The Shield.'' * Luisa Moreno – Social Activist and participant in the United States labor movement. * Delia Ramirez – American politician born to Guatemalan immigrant parents. * Rubio Rubin – American soccer player of Guatemalan and Mexican descent. * AraabMuzik – American
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
record producer of Dominican and Guatemalan descent. * KC Porter – American record producer, singer-songwriter, musician. * Bridget Powers – American hardcore pornographic actress. * Tony Revolori – Guatemalan American actor ( Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home). * Pam Rodriguez – American glamour model of Guatemalan and Puerto Rican descent. * Devorah Rose – Guatemalan/
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
n American socialite. * Juana Samayoa – Guatemalan-American actress and television presenter. * Gadi Schwartz – NBC News correspondent * Willie Sims – Guatemalan born, American raised soccer player. * Ryan Spilborghs – American professional
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...
in the Texas Rangers organization. * Héctor Tobar – Los Angeles author and journalist. * Norma Torres – Politician. She is Guatemalan born but American raised. * David Unger – Guatemalan-American author and translator. * Daphne Zuniga – American actress ('' Melrose Place'', '' One Tree Hill'' and '' Spaceballs''). Her father was originally from
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. * Anthony Gonzalez – American actor. * Ricky Duran – Guatemalan-American recording artist. Runner-up of season 17 of the American talent competition The Voice.


See also

* Guatemala–United States relations * History of Central Americans in Los Angeles


References


Sources

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Further reading

* * * * * * * * * {{Demographics of the United States