Identifying Who I am:

Joining Two Cultures to Find my Identity

Claudia Collazo

History 301
Dr. Talamante
15 November 2013

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Migration to the United States first started a long time ago when my maternal grandfather came
to the United States during World War II. Even though my grandfather came he did not make the
U.S. his permanent home and returned to Mexico. The Second migration became part of my
family history when my father Jose Collazo migrated from Zamora Michoacn. The people that
were here when my father traveled to the U.S. was Francisca Morales (mothers older sister), her
husband Jesus Morales and her four children. Also, Hester Orozco (mothers younger sister) and
her husband Carlos Orozco and their two children. The last generation to migrate from my
family was my generation; my siblings and I migrated to the U.S. with my mother Guadalupe
Collazo, all five of us. As I interviewed my family members I saw similar reasons for migration,
how the lifestyles changed after migrating, and similar experiences from living in the United
States, like experiences with democracy. I will also explain the connection of my family to U.S
history and World history.
My familys migration history starts with my grandfather applying for a work program in
the United States. My familys first experience with migration was also part of the U.S. history
during World War II. In 1942, concerns about labor shortages in the agricultural sector, which
was important to the national defense, provided the impetus for Congress to create the
Emergency Farm Labor Program, known as the Bracero Program.(Baker84) My grandfather
applied to work and came to the U.S. with the Bracero program for three seasons of agricultural
work. The Bracero Program was a bilateral accord between the United States and Mexico,
under which Mexican workers were brought to the United States to perform seasonal agricultural
labor, and then returned to Mexico. (Baker84) After my grandfather worked for three years he
decided that it was not the job for him. Even though he had the opportunity to continue working,
his experience in the U.S was not what he expected. He found that he could not understand the

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language and being away from his family was too much; so he decided that he would not return
to the Bracero Program anymore and continue his life back in Mexico with his family.
My family history continued back in Zamora, Michoacn where both sides of my family
continued to grow. The death of my maternal grandmother left my aunts and uncles without the
opportunity for education and forced them to start the workforce as early as nine years old
(mother had to work at nine years of age only finishing 3rd grade). My paternal side of the family
saw the importance of males and how they strongly wanted their only two sons to start the
workforce at an early age where my father only finished 6th grade and began working at eleven
years of age. Because both my parents did not have an education they found themselves working
in factory jobs where they would work long hours for really low pay.
In October 22, 1977 my parents married and a year later they had their first child, my
sister. While my parents had started a family they were also forced to migrate within Mexico for
a better chance of life because now their family was getting bigger with the arrival of my older
brother in 1981. The economy in Mexico was suffering which affected their citizens; drastic fall
in oil prices in 1981 brought on a grave economic crisis .The crisis worsened into major
economic depression in which real wages fell 10 percent. (Cleary) In 1982 my parents migrated
to Monterey Mexico because in Zamora my father could not find a job because of the economic
crisis Mexico was dealing with. President Miguel de la Madrid instituted wage controls and
tightened the money supply in 1982, which resulted in a lowering of wages by 40 percent
(Vadi132). While in Monterey, my father found different factory jobs. My family stayed in
Monterey for two years. From Monterey they moved to Mexico City where my father continued
looking for new jobs. They only stayed in Mexico City for a year and after, returned back to
Zamora. In September 1986 I was born.

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The second migration to the U.S. for my family was in 1989 when my father migrated to
Paramount California. In the essay Three Generations in America Bartelona Martinez says she
was pushed to leave Mexico primarily because economic situation unable to find work in
Guadalajara and running out of money quickly, she needed to find a new source of income
(Dublin102). Like Bartelona, my father decided to migrate to the U.S. because of the economic
crisis my family was dealing with and he was having difficulty finding jobs. My father was able
to ask for help from my mothers sister so he could migrate to the U.S.
My mothers older sister Francisca Morales had been living in the U.S. since 1982 with her
husband Juan Morales and four children so my father had a place to live when he arrived in
Paramount. Just a few years before my father migrated, one of my mothers youngest sister
Esther Orozco had migrated with her husband Carlos Orozco and their two children to Maywood
California. During that time, the U.S was going through a new law. In 1986, President Ronald
Reagan singed the Immigration and Reformed and Control Act which afforded undocumented
immigrants a chance to apply for citizenship. (Hamphill54) With this Act my aunt and uncles that
had been in the country where able to become citizens; so when my father arrived, my Aunts told
him to apply for the Amnesty but he did not see himself living in the U.S. for long and lost the
opportunity for legal status. After my father arrived to the U.S. my uncle had found him a job as
a machinist which he felt lucky to have because he did not have the education for it. My father
said that he enjoyed his new job and he liked that he would have a stable job where he could
send money back to my mother so that she would not have to work so much.
While my father was away my mother had to take the role of both parents and had to find
a way to make money; so she started selling Menudo and homemade tortillas outside our house
every day at six in the morning and later she would sell enchiladas in the night so she could help

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support the family. During the time my father was away he came to visit and return to the U.S. to
continue to work as a machinist. In 1992, we received the arrival of my younger sister which left
my parents with an important decision to make. While back in the U.S. my Aunt Francisca and
Uncle Juan convinced my father that he could give us a better life in the U.S. and so that he
wouldnt be apart from us.
The third migration of my family was in December 1992, when my mother and my
siblings and I took a flight to Tijuana where my Uncle Juan and Aunt Francisca and their
nephews where waiting for us. Once in Tijuana, we headed to our new home, my Aunt
Franciscas house in Paramount. We arrived to our home that was my aunts garage where our
family of six had to share the small space.
The transitions that my family and I had to make when we arrived to this country were
hard; my family and I had to deal with language barriers. It was hard to leave the comfort of our
homes where we were able to communicate with our family members and neighbors; and we had
to leave that comfort to communicate with others that could not understand us. One of the
traditions that my family has kept is the importance of speaking Spanish because we have family
members that still dont understand English and my father hates that we speak English in front of
them. He also says that when we find people in the community that need help translating we
should help them because we know how hard it was when we arrived and could not understand
the language. Another transition that my family has experienced is the merging of two traditions,
because my family did not want to lose their traditions, and also wanted to fit into the country.
Figure 1 is a picture of my familys first tradition that we celebrated when we arrived to the
country and it was my sisters baptism on April 1993. In the picture we have my mother next to

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my aunt Esther and my father holding my little sister. My mom said that because we had left
Mexico it meant more to keep with our traditions.
We began to incorporate new traditions like celebrating national holidays and celebrating other
holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. For my family, Christmas was a time when we would
have the Posada where we would sing to a baby Jesus and go around and re-enact the birth of
Jesus Christ. The children would receive a brown bag filled with peanuts and a fruit, and presents
where not given on Christmas. My family integrated the story of Santa and the presents we give
to each other but we still celebrate other holidays like January 6 the day of the Three Wise Men.
My mother says that we still celebrate our traditions but we have integrated both. Even though
we have less family in the country we still remember to celebrate our traditions and spend time
with each other to help us teach the newer generations our traditions and what they mean.
My family stories resemble many of the narratives presented in Becoming American,
Becoming ethnic. When my parents arrived to the country they associated themselves with
people that were from Mexico because that was a way that they felt they belonged and they
found that it was easier to communicate with them. Stephanies grandmother from the essay
Changing Worlds Paternal Grandparents arrived to an area that was mostly Irish people
because she knew that she could ask people in her language where to find jobs and be able to
communicate with them. Even though my family has similar experience with other immigrant
families some things vary. In every family migration to the country it started during a different
generation like Stephanies story her migration story starts with her paternal great grandmother
who had been in America. My father, before coming to the country had heard bad stories about
life in the U.S. and he was not sure that he wanted to migrate. The essays from the book shows

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that migration is similar to many families like my family; and most families have economic
reasons why they need to leave their country to look for other alternatives.
After arriving to the country in 1992; my family experienced our first presidential
election when President Bill Clinton was elected for his first term in office. During that time we
realized that democracy would play a big role in our lives like it has to this day. My parents
enrolled my older siblings and me into school and in 1994 democracy changed the way we were
educated. California Proposition 187 denied public benefits and services e.g., non-emergency
health care and public schooling to illegal aliens and required that all agencies report anyone
suspected to be illegal to State Attorney General and Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(Lennon81) This proposition did not just affect my family but all immigrants that needed
healthcare and schooling. My parents were afraid that they would have to take us out from
school and we would have to return back to Mexico. With this proposition we were also forced to
communicate with our teacher in English only and they did not allow our teachers to speak
Spanish to us making communication harder and more difficult to understand our lessons.
Another experience with democracy was in 2001 when my siblings and I got the chance to
continue with our higher education. California passed AB 540 legislation allowing illegal aliens
access to in-state tuition rates. Requirements: Attend a California high school for three or more
years, Graduate from a California high school or receive a GED from California.(Seif2) This
legislation changed our familys educational history. The major law that changed my familys
history with democracy is the Dream Act in 2012. For the first time my siblings, my cousins and
I would be able to be part of this country and step out from the shadows.
My family stills remembers Mexicos national holidays and we celebrate them; like
Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day on September 16 so we remember where we

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came from; but we also celebrate U.S. national holidays like 4th of July because we are part of
this country. My father says that even though we are not citizens yet, we have to be part of this
country in every way we can. Understand what is required of citizens in a participatory
democracy (History-Social Science Framework39) is very important to my family.
Understanding that with every Presidential election our family life in this country could change.
So we know that even though we are not citizens yet we must know what is going on in
democracy like new laws or legislations. Understand the basic principles of democracy
(History-Social Science Framework38) is what connects my family to this country.
Understanding holidays like 4th of July and the importance of it; or understanding the
Amendments and understand what they give to us like freedom of speech etc., understanding
these helps my family be part of the larger American community. Living in America has not been
easy for my family but in spite of the sacrifices, my family is thankful for this country.
Living in America one thing that has changed over time in my family is gender roles. My
father says that in Mexico women that would work were not accepted by the community. Both
my parents where brought up with a mindset that women had to stay home and take care of the
family. As they got older they began to see that it was important that women had their part in
helping support the family. However it was hard for my father to let go of that concept that
women belong at home and only let my mother work selling food outside our home in Mexico.
After arriving to the country my mom started to work and I think that was the first step to
changing gender roles. One thing that changed in the mind of my aunts and uncles including my
parents is that their children will have the opportunity to go to school and get a career. So my
father made sure that we kept going to school because he told my sister and me that we should
never depend on a man to support us that we should have a career to rely on. Now in America,

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the house wife role is no longer part of my family. Women in my family are working, going to
school, and having the same opportunities as the males in my family.
After analyzing my familys story and being a part of the migration history of my family I
know that my family has helped me incorporate my two cultures. Migrating to America at age
six left me confuse about where I came from. Now that I am older my family has helped me keep
my traditions by allowing me to incorporate American traditions into my Mexican heritage. And
because I grew up learning them through others, like teachers, I learned everything about my
culture and my family. Essentially, this is what it means to be an American; understanding that
America has a history of migration; and that it has different cultures. As an American we must
learn about other cultures and languages Recognize that American society is and always has
been pluralistic and multicultural, a single nation composed of individuals whose heritages
encompass many different national and cultural backgrounds.(History-Social Science
Framework36) My familys history has shaped my understanding of my identity as an American.
Being born in Mexico, I am a citizen of that country however living my life in the U.S. I consider
myself an American Citizen even though I dont have that status. I understand my familys
sacrifices to give me a better future in a new country that accepts every person that migrates to it
and I know that as an American I need to continue my familys history so that their struggles
were not in vain.

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Works Cited
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Journal Of Law & Policy 10.1 (2004): 78-114. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Nov.
2013.
Cleary, Edward L. "Human Rights Organizations In Mexico: Growth In Turbulence." Journal Of
Church & State 37.4 (1995): 793. Historical Abstracts. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Collazo, Araceli. Personal Interview.20 October 2013.
Collazo, Guadalupe. Personal Interview. 15 October 2013.
Collazo, Jose. Personal Interview. 18 October 2013.
Dublin, Thomas. Becoming American Becoming Ethnic: Collage Students Explore Their Roots.
Philadelphia. Temple Universary, 1996. Print.
Hemphill, Craig Kyle. "Am I My Brother's Keeper?: Immigration Law Reform And The Liberty
That Is America (A Legal, Theological And Ethical Observation On The Debate Of
Allowing Immigrant Amnesty)." Texas Hispanic Journal Of Law & Policy 15.1 (2009):
51-70. Academic Search Premier. Web. 05 Nov. 2013
Lennon, Tara M. "Proposition 187: A Case Study Of Race, Nationalism, And Democratic
Ideals." Policy Studies Review 15.2/3 (1998): 80. America: History & Life. Web. 07 Nov.
2013.
Seif, H. (2004). "Wise up!" undocumented latino youth, mexican-american legislators, and the
struggle for higher education access. Latino Studies, 2(2), 210-230
Vadi, Jose M. "Economic Globalization, Class Struggle, And The Mexican State. (Cover Story)."
Latin American Perspectives 28.4 (2001): 129. Historical Abstracts. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.