don Francisco

last year, while i was living in mexico, i wrote on this blog a short narrative of a man i had met while working for the community foundation. recently, for one of my graduate courses, i was required to write a migration narrative using an interview with someone who had migrated. i used the information from my meetings with francisco to reconstruct this narrative, as well as including some observations about larger political forces which probably had an effect. i decided that since people seemed to be interested in the original profile i offered of him, they may be interested in this. if you have time/desire to read it, i would love your thoughts/responses. it is written in full, here:


Introduction
During the summer of 2009, I completed my second year MSW internship in the state of Guanajuato, México, working with a community foundation that focuses on local economic and educational development in the surrounding rural Mexican communities. Although I worked primarily in the areas of development, fundraising, and program development, I also had the chance to travel to most of the communities, meet the families, and see the work being done with the support of the foundation.
One of these small towns is Tamaula, a community of about 50 families, which is located on a large hill just outside the mid-sized city of Irapuato. On my first trip up to Tamaula (the altitude is actually quite high, as the drive consists of about 45 minutes of incline), the first person I met was Francisco. I assumed he was about 60 years old, and met his wife and one of his daughters at the same time. As we were introduced, since the other student and I were still very new to the area and the foundation, Francisco offered to give us a short summary of the community and the work the foundation has done over the past few years.
After hearing this brief overview of his story, including the founding of Tamaula, difficult times, and various migratory journeys to the United States, I asked Francisco if he had ever recorded his story in any way. He explained to me that he had actually attempted to write in various times, but each time it was destroyed in some way. Once, it was lost in a rapid and unexpected change of residence. Another time, a fire destroyed the memoir. And yet another time, although he gave only vague details, the pages were destroyed during some type of incident with local authorities. After learning this, I asked Francisco if he would be willing to give me more details about his story, specifically about the migratory process, so that I would be able to record it and pass it on to people who may benefit greatly from it. And although I had heard his story and recorded the details, I had not completed the narrative until now.
Background
When Francisco was about 17, he and his young wife packed up the few possessions they owned and left their hometown in central Mexico in order to find a new area where they might be able to do agricultural work in order to subsist. He did not offer many details about the various elements of this decision. Rather, he explained that he and a few other young couples set off together to start anew. Although the journey and arrival must have been extremely difficult, considering the altitude, lack of a path or road, and the fact that they were on foot, they discovered the area where Tamaula now exists, and decided to stay. They constructed their houses, organized themselves as well as possible, and began their lives.
The primary crop grown in Tamaula was corn, although they did have other crops and livestock as well. The families were able to survive, but life was still difficult. Although the town was extremely close to the city of Irapuato, its location on top of the large hill allowed it to stay very isolated. In fact, until about 12 years ago, the most efficient form of transportation to arrive to Tamaula from the road below was a two-hour burro ride.
In spite of this isolation, the agriculture allowed the families in Tamaula not only to survive, but also to live relatively comfortably. However, in the 1990s, the situation began to change. Although he was unsure of why, it became much more difficult to sell the crops that Francisco and his family were farming. In addition to these unforeseen economic issues, the weather began to change as well. As the rainy seasons seemed to get shorter and the dry seasons longer, it became apparent in Tamaula that the lack of a reliable water source, due to its location, would be an increasingly troubling issue.
Faced with all of these issues, Francisco began to talk to various people in Irapuato when he would travel down. He began to hear about a company in the state of Georgia in the United States that would hire workers from Mexico to do farming and sometimes construction work. Although he did not like the prospect of having to leave his wife and five children, he began to consider this as possibly the best option for the family’s future.
Pre-Migration
Although they knew it would be a very difficult situation for Francisco, his wife, and his kids, the family also knew that it was the only way they would be able to stay in their community and survive during such difficult times. In fact, the personal economic issues were not the only difficulty facing the family. Francisco explained that they began to realize the truly debilitating effects of Tamaula’s isolation, due in large part to the lack of reliable transport between the community and the city.
One related issue was the complete lack of educational opportunities in Tamaula. There was still no type of formal education in the 1990s. While this had never struck them as a great necessity, because they figured the children would all continue to do the same agricultural work they had always done, these increasingly notable changes highlighted the lack of opportunity for future success for the youngest members of Tamaula. Therefore, Francisco knew that if he were able to go to the United States to work and send money home, along with some other men from the community, they may be able to pool enough resources to build a school and hire teachers from the city.
Of course, this would be dependent upon the improvement of basic infrastructure in Tamaula. First in importance would be a path or road cleared of rocks leading up to the community, allowing access by means other than foot or animal. In addition, there was still no electricity or clean water source in the community. All of these elements, which again highlight the isolation of Tamaula from the modern city of nearly 500,000 people so nearby, were on the mind and heart of Francisco and a few other men of the community as they considered the difficulty of the journey ahead of them.
The decision and preparation for this first journey was by far the most difficult for Francisco and his family. There was a great amount of uncertainty about every aspect: the journey up to the United States, the border crossing, the place where he would be going, the work he would be doing, how long he would stay, and how he would return. The family did find some level of solace, however, in the idea that Francisco would be returning at some point. Clearly, the plan was never for him to migrate permanently to the United States. In fact, the ideal situation would be that he would work just long enough to send enough money back to secure that the family could create some type of new economic opportunity, allowing him to never migrate again.
Luckily, he had a few friends in another community in the general area that had already made the journey and were able to guide him in the preparations of travel. He knew would be able to take a bus to the border, but he knew very little after that. His friends informed him of where to go at the border and how to access a coyote, but little else was prepared. Francisco knew where in Arizona to be at a certain time, and was prepared to trust God for the rest.
Transit
Unlike some migrants, who are forced to hitchhike or ride on the tops of trains to reach the U.S. border, Francisco had the opportunity to take a bus from his home state of Guanajuato to the border at Nogales, where he would cross. This long bus ride, although incredibly easy compared to the rest of the journey ahead of him, was surprisingly difficult due to the recent separation from his family and the overwhelming sense of uncertainty about the near and distant future. He had no idea where exactly the coyote would take him or how he would get there.
When he arrived in Nogales, he was able to locate a coyote based on the guidance he had received in Guanajuato. Once the coyote was paid and preparations were finished, the next leg of the journey, arguably the most dangerous, began: crossing over the border through the desert. This portion was clearly the most difficult for Francisco to discuss. He gave very few details, explaining only that it was the most horrible thing he had experienced in his life, and he thought for sure he was going to die. He was not sure how long it actually took or where exactly they were, but after at least a few excruciating days, the coyote announced that they had made it through the desert and were “safely” in a United States town. He now guesses that they had arrived in Tucson, Arizona.
However, the danger and pain was not yet over. At this point, Francisco was put into the back of a truck that was completely packed with people. It was clearly difficult for him to describe this experience, in which he was again positive that he was going to suffocate and die. He explained that it quickly outweighed the desert as the most horrible experience of his life. However, he arrived at his next destination: Phoenix.
After arriving in Phoenix, he was quickly put on an airplane destined for Atlanta, Georgia. And as he reiterates, he had literally no idea where he was going. He was completely dependent upon the people whom he was following. In fact, he described the fact that on the airplane, when he and some of the other men he had been traveling with were given complimentary meals, they did not eat them because they spoke no English and therefore were not aware that the food was free. They had not eaten in over three days.
Once he and the other migrants arrived in Atlanta, they were picked up by representatives of the company and driven to the town of Athens, about 70 miles from Atlanta. Francisco expressed gratitude at the opportunity to have at least a few other Mexican men with him on this leg of the journey. Although he did not feel his life was quite as threatened as it had been in the desert or the truck ride to Phoenix, the fact that he knew no English left him feeling continually afraid and uneasy.
Resettlement
While in the United States, due to the community in which he settled and the nature of his work, Francisco was actually not forced to integrate much into mainstream United States culture. He worked primarily with other migrants from Mexico or Central America, and lived in a small town with many of these co-workers. Therefore, he was able to speak Spanish almost exclusively, and rarely had to leave this comfort zone for any reason.
However, the life of an undocumented immigrant in the United States, even within the context of a good work situation, is difficult. For instance, due to a lack of health insurance, Francisco was never able to go to a doctor when he was sick or injured. When an accident at work left him with a large cut on his left forearm, he was left to dress and care for it himself because he would not have been able to afford otherwise. The community of migrants with whom he worked and lived was extremely helpful and supportive, especially during these first few months of transition.
Another difficulty, especially at first, was the separation from his family. This was the first time Francisco had ever left his wife and children, and he was still unsure exactly how long this separation would last. He explained that he felt extremely lonely, even around his fellow migrants, because he knew his entire family was together, along with his community in Tamaula. However, he found it extremely comforting to know that the money he was beginning to send home was helping his family and community to live and plan for the future.
The work Francisco was doing was actually quite manageable, although demanding. He was primarily working in agriculture, tending to crops such as corn and tobacco, but would also work on construction projects occasionally when it was available. Through this combination, he was not only able to use the skills and knowledge about agriculture that he already possessed, but he was able to learn knew skills in building and construction that he predicted would be helpful when he returned to Tamaula. He was also able to develop a very good relationship with his employer, which again provided him with much-needed support.
Francisco ended up staying in Georgia, doing this combination of work, for about two years. As he continued to work hard and send the majority of the money to his family in Tamaula, he weighed the options to remain or return to Mexico. Although he was making much more money than he had ever had at home, the strain of being separated from the family was too difficult. He not only missed his wife, children, and community, but he missed the more tranquil lifestyle in his small, quiet community on top of the hill. Therefore, after discussing it on the phone with his wife, he decided to return to Mexico after two years of working in Georgia. They assumed that with his new experience, knowledge, and skills, they would undoubtedly be able to support themselves in Tamaula.
Return
Luckily, the journey home to Mexico was much easier than the arrival trip had been. Francisco was able to take a bus to the border, cross over without problems, and take another bus back down to Guanajuato state. After two years, he was joyfully reunited with his wife and children. He was also able observe the marked differences in his community since he had left. Like him, many of the men had left, and many were still in the United States or Canada, sending remittances back. In fact, he estimated that the majority of families in Tamaula had a family member who had migrated, usually the father and/or oldest son.
Although he was able to organize the construction of some new homes in the community, especially for his growing family, as his children grew older and began their own families, the economic situation for Francisco and his family did not improve. (They also pooled remittance money with a number of other families in order to construct a new, large church, which is opened once a month when a traveling priest comes to officiate mass.) The opportunities for agriculture did not increase, and the money saved up from remittances was quickly being exhausted. Therefore, over the next five to ten years, Francisco was forced to make the difficult decision to emigrate to the U.S. a few more times. He was unclear of how many times he actually made the journey or how exactly he did it, but he did explain that the return trips were at least made easier by the general knowledge of what to expect. In addition, his boss in Georgia had told him after the first departure that he could work for him whenever he wanted or needed to.
During the past decade, as Francisco has gotten older and therefore less able to handle the journey, his sons have begun migrating. In fact, when I completed this interview with him, one son was in the United States working, and one had just recently returned. This younger generation not only supports their own young families, but supports their parents as well. Also during this time period, however, the foundation with which I was interning began working with the community. This collaboration has led to the creation of an automobile-accessible road up to Tamaula (cleared of rocks but not paved), the installation of electricity and internet access, and the gradual construction of three small buildings for educational purposes. The current project on which the foundation and the community are working is the installation of a clean water source and the purchase of a large cistern in which to store it.
With these developments, the community has truly been opened up to the surrounding area and the nearby city of Irapuato. Although it is still difficult to access (a rocky 45-minute car ride), the increasing accessibility has allowed the community leaders to work with the foundation to advocate much more effectively for the needs of the community. Francisco and another elder in the community have also collaborated with another organization to obtain a large number of goats in order to reignite some of the economic prospects the community once enjoyed. While the men raise, breed, and sell the goats, the women use the milk to make cheese, which they hope to sell in the local markets soon.
However, even with these growing opportunities, migration continues to be a significant part of life in Tamaula. In fact, the characteristics of those who migrate is continually changing, now often starting around age 14 or 15, and including young women as well as men. This culture of course creates a large number of social problems, including an extremely low commitment to education and high rates of depression and alcoholism in those left behind.
Larger Implications and Conclusion
It is not difficult to understand how Francisco’s story of immigration fits in to the larger context of economic, agricultural, and immigration policy between Mexico and the United States. For instance, as Daniels (2002) explains in his book Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, “in the 1980s, for the first time since the mid-1920s, immigration took up a central position on the American social agenda” (p. 388). Along with the many rounds of reform measures and policies that were being drafted and debated in these years, such as the Immigration Reform Act of 1986, U.S. public opinion about migrants and immigration was being discussed, debated, and reevaluated as well. At the very least, I would point to this ideological discussion—if not battle—as a reason for the extremely dangerous nature of the journey itself that Francisco completed. Were it not such a hotly contested issue with such an immense history, he may not have been forced to risk his life or those of his children in order to earn a living.
In addition to these general immigration policies, it seems incredibly likely that economic policies, such as the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), also contributed significantly to Francisco’s choice to migrate. As Daniels (2002) mentions and others such as Flores-Macías (2006) discuss in detail, the trade policies of NAFTA nearly (if not completely) devastated the agricultural business of much of Mexico, especially central Mexico (where Guanajuato is located). Although the presidents of both nations claimed the policy would create more opportunities for work in both countries and therefore lower the rate of migration, it actually had the opposite effect, causing the levels of migration—especially illegally—from Mexico to the United States to skyrocket. It seems quite logical to include Francisco in this group.
Francisco’s story of migration, therefore, not only offers a great depiction of the stages of migration and the way this process can affect individuals, families, and whole communities, but it also exemplifies the way large national or international policies can affect these different levels of society as well. Nonetheless, Francisco continues. He continues to work hard, live with his wife in Tamaula, support his children as they migrate to and return from the north, and advocate for the community he founded nearly 50 years ago.

References
Daniels, R. (2002). Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life.
Flores-Macías, G. A. (2008). NAFTA’s Unfulfilled Immigration Expectations. Peace Review, 20(4), pp. 435-441.