IMMIGRANT KINSHIP NETWORKS AND THE IMPACT OF THE RECEIVING CONTEXT - SALVADORANS IN SAN-FRANCISCO IN THE EARLY 1990S

Based on ethnographic fieldwork and intensive interviews, this article analyses the assistance 50 recently arrived Salvadorans in San Franci sco obtained from their families. Two distinct profiles emerged: one w here immigrant newcomers received sustained assistance from their kinf olk, and the other where such support faltered upon their arrival. Foc using on the experiences of the latter group, I argue that kinfolk can provide benefits only when material and physical conditions in the re ceiving context permit. Unfavorable factors, such as government immigr ation policies, local labor market opportunities, and the organization of the reception in the community, created conditions for weakened ki nship networks. This study warns that immigrant kinship networks are n ot reproduced automatically in the new environment. These social relat ions are contingent upon the physical and material conditions within w hich they unfold.