Zavala 1

Sheila Zavala

Ms. Vasquez

U.S History

8 December, 2017

The Great Listen Story

My uncle, Salvador Zavala, was born in Guerrero, Acapulco on April 30, 1961. He

didnt have a ruff life as a little boy or the beginning of his teenage years. For some time my

uncle lived on a farm with many animals owned by his father. But by the time my uncle turned

five the government threatened his dad to give up his farm, which they didnt have no other

choice but to do so. Now, my uncle and his whole family of 14 people had to move, and lived in

a one bedroom house. If someone had to go to the bathroom there was a river behind the house

where they would just pop a squat and had no privacy. They started to build onto the house as

they got jobs and were able to afford repairs and costs. My uncle worked as a fisherman, then by

the time he was 16 he decided to join the military and there he was given a higher education. But

being in the military he faced some huge consequences. One day he went on a mission to capture

narco trafficants but it ended up being huge manslaughter. My uncle and another man were the

only survivors. Although, he had been stabbed under his stomach and shot twice on his back,

after he had finished his contract with the military they threatened him because he had seen too

much about the way things were being done with the cartel. So, he got a job working as a

telephone operator and saved enough money to get his visa. He had heard stories from other

people that the United States was beautiful and a nice place, so his intentions were never to stay

but to go on vacation.
 Zavala 2

At the age 26 my uncle arrived to Winton, California in 1986. He instantly fell in love

with this place and the people, it was just a totally different environment compared to Mexico.

Although, he once again was cramped into a room to be shared with 5 people provided to them

by a contractor who he worked with. No matter what, he was looking foward to all the

opportunities his future was going to offer him. He started off working three jobs, Foster Farms

in the mornings on week days, as a bartender three times a week and working in different fields

depending on the season. After living in California for a couple of months my uncle finally got

his residency because Ronald Reagan had passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act. This

act gave illegal immagrants the right to live in U.S. legall if they met the requirements. Now that

he had no worries, being a resident for a country he loves, my uncle met his future wife when

working at a cherry field where she would always make fun of him for falling off a ladder. They

ended up getting married and were expecting a baby, but my uncle was thrown into jail in 1991

for possesion of drugs. His cousin had implanted the drugs in his car because he wanted to

sabotage my uncles and aunts relationship. He served 20 months in jail, meeting a diversity of

people in there he learned to speak english kind of fluently, got a job in the cafeteria and a friend

gave him a tattoo with his and his wifes anitials. For some time he despised his cousin for what

he done to him but after some time all he could focus on was getting back to his family.

Once he got out of jail he was deported to Tijuana and taken away his residency. The

only way for him to come back now was to cross the border with a coyote, which he did so in

1992. He was so relieved to get to his family and finally get to hold his daughter. That same year

president Bill Clinton was elected into office. Clinton tried to help many families in Somalia

with the famine by sending thousands of troops with supplies. Later in 1993 Clinton passed on
 Zavala 3

this operation to the United Nations, which is when the Gulf war broke out between the United

States and Somalia. During this time the war made it hard to find a well paid job. My uncle and

his little family were starting to expand because they were expecting another baby that year, but

they had little money and had to go to churchs to ask for food or apply for food stamps. After the

war things starting to get better and my uncle started to get paid more as a construction worker

and later on he was promoted as a manager. In 1999 he was able to get a visa but throughtout the

years he had three more kids and has been saving up money for a lawyer to fix his papers to

become a citizen. He has always been really strong to go over any obsticles he faces and loves to

be a hard worker to help others and those around him.

 Zavala 4

Citation:
The Immigration Reform and Control act

The Gulf War