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. 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 US. 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 of 150,000 civilians during 1981 to 1983. Ultimately, this formed a ripple