effect, which led to displacement and migration to both Mexico and the United States for many Guatemalans and Mayas. 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 US, 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 US 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