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During the 1980s, thousands of Guatemalans abandoned communities ravaged by civil war and found refuge in different countries in the Americas. Among these refugees were 12,000 Q'anjob'al Mayans who escaped the political violence that had destroyed some 440 villages. The Q'anjob'al settled in southern Florida, in a small farming community called Indiantown. There they joined other Central American and Mexican immigrants.

The American writer Allan F. Burns based his book Maya in Exile: Guatemalans in Florida on interviews with the Mayan residents of Indiantown. Through their conversations, several trends emerge. Most Mayan refugees in Florida lived for a number of years in refugee camps—mostly in Mexico before under taking the journey to the United States. Despite the problems of discrimination and persecution they face in Florida, they say they prefer to be in the United States for reasons of...