For many years leading up to the 1960s, the communist regime of Rafael Trujillo controlled the Domincan Republic. In 1965, Trujillo was assassinated and Juan Bosh, a “leftist” populist reformer, became the first democratically elected president. Due to Bosh's refusal to repress the Communist movement, the US supported the Trujillo regime in order to suppress communism. President Lyndon Johnson did not want a revolution like the one in Cuba, so he sent troops to restore peace between the left and right-wing regimes.
Joaquin Balaguer, supported by the US, gained power in 1966 and ruled for the next 12 years. He ruled with such authoritarianism that there was relative political and economic stability.
The mid-1970s came and the world market saw a decline in sugar, coffee, and cocoa. Political and economic turmoil arose again. Many Dominicans were killed or perished due to poverty and instability. (19)
Dominican migration started in the 1960s as a response to the civil wars, but it truly soared in the 1980s due to economic instability and social injustice. According to the 2000 census, those who traveled to Miami made up 2% of the 40% of Other Latinos (this statistic shows that Dominicans chose destinations other than Miami to immigrate to). (16)
Those Dominicans who come to the Unites States are considered highly educated in the Dominican Republic, but are included in the percentage of Latinos in the U.S. who receive public assistance and end up in low-status blue-collar jobs. (19)