Herlinda Zavala’s story is one of passion and determination captured both in her personality and how she maintains her small business in cosmetology while also giving back to her community, family, and friends. Zavala lives in San Jose, California and migrated to the United States from Zapotitlán Jalisco, Mexico at the age of ten with her family via a temporary ... Read More »
“The main key to being successful as an immigrant is saving up as much money as you can and that will be the most useful thing in your life as an immigrant.” My parents made sure that that idea was stuck in my head since I was young. I grew up on a farm. My father Cirilo and my mother ... Read More »
In La Huerta, Jalisco, a baby girl was born to a mother. Her name was Lily (name changed), after her mother’s favorite flower. That girl is me. I lived on a beautiful ranch, Plazola. I am the oldest of my family so it had only been me and my 2 sisters Maria and Alejandra. Our ranch was small but it ... Read More »
I was born in the Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico in 1983. I lived with my Mom, Ana; my Dad, Rogelio; and my brother, Rogelio Jr. My Dad worked in the fields going back and forth to America while me and my family stayed in Jalisco. He was going back and for work so often that he came to us with an ... Read More »
My father has always been an active man, always eager to learn something new and prepared for whatever was to come. Rogelio Sotelo was born on July 27, 1973 in the town of Jamay, Jalisco, into a middle class family of five girls and four boys. As a young child, through elementary school, he would wake up every morning and ... Read More »
I was the only woman out of eleven men. Anything awful could have happened, but it didn’t because one of the main coyotes (person who helps others migrate) was my relative. The trip took four to five days. These days were some of the worst days of my life. I was just a little girl who was living her life. ... Read More »
There’s a mother named Flora Bravo Garcia,(name changed) struggling to keep her life as best as she can. Will she make it in the U.S. ? I was living in Jamay, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1980. My life was great as a child. I would play in the mud, and my friends and I would play outside when it rained. As ... Read More »
In pursuit of a better life, Ramon Martinez migrated to the U.S. from Cañadas de Obregon, Jalisco when he was only 15 years old. He went from living on a small ranch, where everyone knew each other and he worked on a farm with his father, to abandoning that life in pursuit of the American Dream. Ramon remembers life in ... Read More »
Many migrate for a chance at a better life. However, for my mother, this was not the case. She grew up in a small village in Jalisco, Mexico. She lived in a modest home with both parents, four sisters, and two brothers. Her father drove a Pepsi truck, and her mom ran a restaurant. My mother’s favorite place to go ... Read More »
She had a lingering desire to go back, but she knew she had to stay to guarantee a secure and prosperous future for her children. During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, he made a statement about immigrants. He stated, “Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists”(1932). This quote shows there ... Read More »