Hometown association

Kinship networks focused on the Latino community first began in the early 20th century. They arose because of the increasing use of migratory labor during that period. Mexican HTAs in the United States grew out of the historical mutual aid societies and welfare organizations created in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in order to provide health care and death benefits at a time when such services were unavailable for many immigrant groups.

Contemporary Mexican HTAs have their roots in mutual-benefit associations that were active in the first decade of the twentieth century in the agricultural areas of California. Such associations were rooted in common origins and provided a base of solidarity when newcomers faced the difficulties of social integration. Although these kinds of organizations have existed in Mexican communities since the 1950s, the numbers have expanded dramatically between 1980 and 2000. As of 2003, there were well over 600 Mexican hometown clubs and associations registered in 30 cities throughout the United States and these include cities NYC,[13] Chicago,[14] and Los Angeles.[15] The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Mexicans send about $20 billion in remittances to Mexico in 2009, which makes remittances one of Mexico's top three sources of foreign exchange.[16]

Although Mexican HTAs have the longest history and are the best-known, there has been an increase in the number of Dominican, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran hometown associations. These have been formed from the 1990s and are actively participating in the improvement of their communities of origin and of residence. Like Mexican-Americans and Dominican-Americans, Central Americans also participate in a growing number of hometown associations. There are an estimated 164 Guatemalan HTAs in the United States. Most of these have been focused on responding to the numerous natural disasters that have hit Guatemala since 1991. There are an estimated 200 Salvadoran HTAs, most of which focus on assisting a single town and hold dinners, pageants, and other events to raise funds for community-based development projects. HTAs contribution to local development is a common practice. Additionally, these efforts contribute to fostering and supporting positive ethnic-racial identities among immigrant communities in the US. For example, Bolivian HTAs have used cultural and folkloric events and practices as a way of building community and outreach to other populations.[17]

In a time of economic crisis in the 1980s, the Dominican Republic began to focus on migrants in the U.S. as potential and sustained sources of remittances.[18] As a result, remittances represented the a significant source of currency after tourism. In the past, Dominican HTA work in the country focused on charitable contributions and disaster relief. For instance, the Dominican HTA the Cañafisteros of Bani Foundation of Boston aids their hometown and province of Bani by provided ample resources for this community.[19] This HTA provided $100 U.S. a month for needy families. Political incorporation of Dominican transnational communities stemmed from these efforts above.[20][21][22] The HTA Esperanza por Colombia, which formed in the 1970s, used fundraising to provide similar projects aimed at improving infrastructure and transporting equipment for their sending community. Esperanza por Colombia contributed aide to earthquake victims in 1996.[23]

The majority of hometown associations are relatively new and concentrated mainly in four states: California, New York, Texas, and Florida. Approximately two-thirds (63%) of Latino HTAs rely on donations. Although the total number of Latino hometown associations is unmeasured, there are about 4,000 HTAs that have received legal status in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during the 1990s.[24] According to the IRS, among the HTAs that have formalized their status for tax purposes, about 62% operate on less than $25,000 per year, another 14% on $25,000–99,999, and 23% on $100,000 or more. The majority of Latino associations have an inside-view of Latino problems and possible solutions, and they have a special role in identifying community needs.[25]

Raising money for improvements in their hometowns has long been a key organizing strategy, originally in cooperation with either the hometown church or local authorities. This took on a new character in towns like Zacatecas, Mexico where the state government began matching the funds provided by the migrants for a number of projects in the late 1980s. This funds-matching program is an example of how migrant interaction with Mexican policy produced migrant activism, bi-national migrant 'civil society' and migrant leadership networks in the 1990s. There are several elements included in the explanation of the rise and sustenance of these HTA networks, such as preexisting clique-like networks, transnational networks, and collective remittances. The preexisting network matches the experience of many rural origin-based HTAs and is consistent with the scholarship noting the relationship between collective remittances and high-migration states.[26][27] There is of course the possibility for political bias given the way in which local, state, and federal power is structured and how projects are initiated and funded.[28]