US Deportations Help Fuel Call-Center Industry In El Salvador

In the Obama era, more than 2.7 million people were deported from the US, of which at least 250,000 were from El Salvador. These deportees have become the workforce for the call-center industry in the Central American country, which its government considers a strategic sector: over 70 firms operate in the small country, employing over 20,000 people. 

Part of this is due to economics. International firms are drawn by low operating costs, tax incentives and proximity to the US market. But, the industry also thrives on US immigration policy. Deportees fluent in English and familiar with US culture have become the ideal workforce for companies taking on offshore operations for international behemoths. They're also great employees. Without many other opportunities to work, they are desperate to take on the job. 

In his piece, The New Yorker's Jonathan Blitzer speaks to the deportees who take our calls and seek second opportunities in a growing industry. But he also traces the roots of the call-center sector in El Salvador to the country's convulsed history of lack of opportunity, migration and gang violence.