Interviewer: Tell me why you decided to come to the United States?
Jose: Well, I grew up in a small village with a population of only 2000 located inside of Puebla, Mexico called San Mateo. I had a rough upbringing, we were very poor, barely making ends meet, we would grow our crops and raise our animals as our main food source. I had a lot of responsibilities early on, at just 8 years old I would have to walk to our farm to feed our animals before school started and then afterwards when school was over. I enjoyed school but wasn’t able to continue because I just couldn’t afford the tuition and supplies. I remember when my friends would go out to eat during our lunch break and I would just stare and watch them because I didn’t have enough money.
Jose: As time passed, at about the age of 15 my mother got severely sick. She ended in a deep coma and the hospital bills just increasingly grew and with no one to pay them. My dad rather than working he just drank all day. He was useless. So I decided to go into the city and find a job since back in the village there were just no jobs. I found a job at a taco stand, where they used to pay me $2,000 pesos every 2 weeks which is equivalent to $100 dollars for a job that I worked 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. It was a very demanding job but I needed the money to pay for my mom's medical bills. My mom remained in a coma for about 2 months, there were plenty of times I wanted to give up, I would have to bike 2 hours to work and back every day. Soon the amount I was making at the taco stand wasn’t enough. That's when a friend told me about coming to “el norte”, the United States at a chance to make more money. So I saved up my money and jumped at the opportunity.
Life now:
Jose: Now I am very proud of how far I’ve come looking back at where I started. Even though I have no legal status here I still manage to build a name for myself. That's why I tell my kids if I'm able to come to a new country, learn a new language and all alone, then they should be able to reach for the stars. Although it’s been hard, I barely have any family here besides my brother, my whole family is still back in Mexico, it’s been 20 years since I’ve seen them and one of my biggest wishes is to be able to just have a simple dinner with my whole family, but I can’t just leave my family here behind because I brought them into this world and they are my responsibility first before anyone. I just wish to be able to go back one day.
"No matter what background you come from if you put your all into something you can accomplish anything, no dream is too big!"
Jose: Now I am very proud of how far I’ve come looking back at where I started. Even though I have no legal status here I still manage to build a name for myself. That's why I tell my kids if I'm able to come to a new country, learn a new language and all alone, then they should be able to reach for the stars. Although it’s been hard, I barely have any family here besides my brother, my whole family is still back in Mexico, it’s been 20 years since I’ve seen them and one of my biggest wishes is to be able to just have a simple dinner with my whole family, but I can’t just leave my family here behind because I brought them into this world and they are my responsibility first before anyone. I just wish to be able to go back one day.
"No matter what background you come from if you put your all into something you can accomplish anything, no dream is too big!"