Ecuadorian immigrants
Ecuadorian immigrants represent a significant demographic within the Latino community in the United States, ranking as the tenth-largest group as of 2021, with approximately 830,000 individuals of Ecuadorian descent residing in the country. A substantial portion of these immigrants are concentrated in the New York City metropolitan area, which is home to about 55% of the Ecuadorian population in the US. Historically, the influx of Ecuadorians began in the 1960s and 1970s, driven by economic challenges in Ecuador, particularly during the 1990s when a financial crisis forced many families to seek better opportunities abroad.
Most Ecuadorian immigrants are economic migrants, with many initially planning to return home after a short period. However, changing immigration laws and the dire economic situation in Ecuador led many to stay and pursue citizenship. While a significant number of Ecuadorians work in low-paying, unskilled sectors like restaurants and the garment industry, a large portion of the workforce is undocumented, facing challenges such as job insecurity and limited resources. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated economic difficulties in Ecuador, contributing to a continued rise in migration. Overall, the Ecuadorian immigrant community plays a vital role in the labor market, particularly in urban areas, while also maintaining deep connections to their homeland.
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Ecuadorian immigrants
SIGNIFICANCE: According to the Pew Research Center, Ecuadorians constituted the tenth-largest Latino group in the United States (US) in 2017. About 40 percent of the 738,000 people of Ecuadorian descent living in the US resided in the New York City metropolitan area. About 42 percent of Ecuadorians who immigrated to the US were US citizens. In 2021, Ecuadorians remained the tenth-largest Latino group in the US, with approximately 830,000 people of Ecuadorian descent living in the country. Approximately 50 percent were US citizens.
Most Ecuadorians living in the US are economic migrants. During the 1960s and 1970s, small numbers of Ecuadorians began entering the US on tourist and work visas. Many of these early migrants intended to return to Ecuador after spending a year or two earning money. However, after the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 conferred legal status on undocumented migrants, many of these immigrants decided to obtain US citizenship and remain.
After several decades of fairly slow immigration, Ecuadorian immigrants to the US jumped dramatically during the 1990s. A drop in Ecuadorian petroleum revenue combined with a 60 percent inflation rate to devalue the Ecuadorian currency, the sucre. This left many Ecuadorian families impoverished. To survive, many families sent young members—typically young men—to the US to earn US dollars. Many of these families made ends meet only because of the remittances sent by their relatives in the US. Moreover, the Ecuadorian financial crisis made it impossible for many young Ecuadorian men to obtain the prerequisites for manhood—land ownership, marriage, and the establishment of independent households—within their homeland. Migration to the US has provided young immigrants with both incomes and the status of acquiring North American styles of speech, fashion, and attitude.
Census figures show a 99 percent increase in Ecuadorians who entered the US between 1980 and 2000. In contrast to many immigrants from neighboring Mexico, Ecuadorians do not frequently move back and forth across the US border. After Ecuadorians arrive in the US, they often wait several years to summon the courage and save the money to return to Ecuador. Many reach the US by flying to Panama, where they find overland guides to help them cross the US border. They generally leave children behind in Ecuador. The number of Ecuadorian immigrants to the US, both legal and illegal, rose in the third decade of the twenty-first century due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated already poor economic conditions in Ecuador.
The Ecuadorians in the US include a disproportionately large number of undocumented workers. Most of them are poor peasants with limited resources from Ecuador’s Azuay and Cañar provinces in the rural Andes. In 2021, about 55 percent of Ecuadorians in the US resided in the New York City metropolitan area, making it the third-largest Latin American immigrant group in the region, after Dominicans and Mexicans. Many work in the New York City economy's low-paying, unskilled service and manufacturing sectors, particularly in restaurants and the garment industry. One scholar estimated that 95 percent of Ecuadorian garment workers were paid in cash, with no deductions taken out. Eighty percent of these workers were identified as undocumented, with little job security. Although the garment industry has undergone significant changes in the twenty-first century, including modernizations that no longer make it a hub of employment for undocumented workers, Ecuadorians have found work in other industries, including agriculture, construction, cleaning and maintenance, and food services.
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