Juan is from León, Guanajuato, Mexico. The first time he came here to the U.S. is when he was 18-years-old. The year was 2003.
In an interview with Media Milwaukee, Juan explained that he came to the United States in the first place to help his parents and to get them a house.
“That is why I came here. Thank God, that I was lucky enough to come in because the journey to get here isn’t easy. One can go back, and they’ll face danger.” (In Spanish: “Yo por eso decidi venir para aca. Y gracias a dios me toco suerte de entrar, por que son dificiles las pasadas. Uno se puede regresar y enfrentan muchos peligros.”)
His parents’ house was too small for the family, as there are six kids (him included) and his parents; in total it was eight of them. Juan, an unauthorized immigrant, spoke to the Media Milwaukee student journalists in Spanish. Media Milwaukee is not printing his full name for his own protection.
The people who bring them over here, take them through mountains and such; there are wild animals and that puts them in danger as well, he said. All of that is dangerous, but the people who come over here have the dream to help their parents and family but also for themselves especially.
Juan was able to get his parents a house but to get himself one also and a car. The first time he came here, he lasted four years in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and he also worked at a restaurant there. After the four years, he went back to Mexico; he got married had his two little boys.
About a year and a half ago, he came back to Milwaukee with the same circumstance,s but this time to support his wife and two boys back home. “To be able to give my boys a better future, that is why I decided to come back,” he said. (In Spanish: “Por lo mismo, pero ahora es diferente, para darles un mejor futuro, para mis hijos. Por eso regrese esta vez.”) Juan says that it’s going to be his last time coming over here to the U.S.
Coming here for the second time, Juan struggled; he was almost left in the middle of nowhere because he couldn’t take it anymore. The person who brought Juan, his cousin and others over, had them walking 16 to 17 hours.
During the time when Juan was making his journey back to U.S. for the second time, it was heat season in Mexico. “There were two or four people who were severely dehydrated, and I was one of them.” (In Spanish: “Ya hiban dos o cuatro personas que se estaban deshidratando, y yo era uno de ellos.”)
Juan was on this journey with his cousin who also works at the same restaurant as he does, and when they were walking, he told his cousin to just leave him where he is, that he can’t do it anymore. “Cousin just leave me here. I can’t handle this anymore,” he recalled saying. (In Spanish: “Primo, ya dejanme aqui. Yo ya no aguanto más.”)
When they would rest, Juan felt dizzy to the point that he was going to faint and fall. He kept on telling his cousin that he can’t handle the journey anymore and his cousin told him that the person who is leading them to the U.S. said that there is an hour left.
“He better be serious that there’s only one hour left, because about three hours ago he said the same thing,” Juan recalls saying. (In Spanish: Pues ya hace tres horas que dijo que faltaba una hora. Dile que si es enserio que nomas falta una hora, por que yo ya no aguanto.”)
After they were done walking, they hopped into a truck that took them to San Antonio, Texas; in the truck there were bottles of Gatorade and Juan right away opened one and drank it all. Juan told his wife that he struggled a lot coming here, and that if everything goes well for him that this will be the last time, he does this long journey again.
“I solely did this for my kids, now that they are still small; so that they don’t have to suffer and that they can have a good life.” (In Spanish: “Solo lo hice para mis hijos. Para darles un mejor futuro…para que no sufran, que esten bien.”) Juan wants to stay in Milwaukee for as long as possible, to make enough so that he can go back to Mexico and not come back.
Juan only works at a restaurant in the Milwaukee area. When people come here, they want to work anywhere that is hiring, whether that be at a restaurant, a theater, or a factory. He has a sister who lives here in Milwaukee, and she was the one who told him about the restaurant and asked him if he would like to work there.
“I told her that anywhere that is hiring, I’ll work,” he says. (In Spanish: “Le dije…donde haiga trabajo.”) Juan decided to work the night shift but was hesitant because he didn’t want to get sick by working so late and having lack of sleep. He enjoys working night shifts. Depending on how work is going and depending on the tips that the waiters give him, he sends around $550, $600 to $700 dollars to his family back in Mexico, every eight days.
“For me, I do feel bothered what they say about Mexicans,” he adds. (In Spanish: “Yo si me siento molesto, lo que dicen.”) What he hears about people saying that Latinos are stealing jobs, it isn’t true. A lot of the Latinos have heavy working jobs, that most of the people here in U.S. don’t want to do, he says.
The most difficult part for him when he came to Milwaukee was leaving his family; the first time he came here, it was difficult for him to leave his parents and the second time around it was difficult to leave his wife and kids. “The most difficult part is leaving your family behind.” (In Spanish: “Lo más dificl es dejar la familia.”)
Juan explained that when he was making his first journey to the U.S., he was scared, and he was young. The fear he had was that he didn’t know what was going to happen during the difficult journey. He goes on to explain that in the news he hears that a lot of immigrants are left behind or don’t have will power to go push through anymore; or something happens to them in the desert. Or the coyotes who bring them over here leave them in the middle of path and people drowning in the Rio Grande. “These are the things that scare people who make their way to the U.S.” (In Spanish: “Eso es lo que le da uno miedo para venir.”)
When Juan got married, he spoke to his wife about coming here to work. At first his wife was opposed to him coming here, but he asked her to give him a chance while he is still able to work and able to come back to Mexico. He also asked her if she would like to come over here to the U.S. and she said “no” and that she is happy living in Mexico. Juan explains that at first his wife was interested in coming here, but what is keeping her back in Mexico is that she fears that she is going to like living in the U.S. and not want to come back to Mexico. “She is happy in Mexico,” he says. (In Spanish: “Ella es feliz en Mexico.”) He has a sister who currently lives here in Milwaukee; Juan has five sisters, and he is the only boy.
Before coming to the U.S., he was working in Leon, Guanajuato. His sister got him a job working at the stores, and he would go into work at 7 am. Most of the time, his boss would send him out to deliver things, but the boss would send him when stores were closing and when people were packing up to go home. Juan wouldn’t come home until 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning and then only to wake up again at 7 am to work.
“This is why most are encouraged to come over here,” (in Spanish: “Por eso se anima uno para venirse para aca.”) There is work in Mexico, but the hours are long and they don’t get paid much; whereas here, he works more hours but gets paid better, so he can send that money back home.
In Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Juan was caught without a license by the police. There was one time when he and others were caught by Immigration (border patrol) and they arrested them.
“They caught us in the border of Texas and then took us to border of Los. Angeles” (In Spanish: “Nos agarraron en la frontera de Texas y nos aventaron hasta la frontera de Los Angeles.”) Juan explained that back then if you were caught in the border of Tijuana or Mexicali, border patrol would then take them to border of Texas. “They would do that so that people would feel discouraged about crossing the border again. (In Spanish: “Eso lo hacian para que uno se desanimara y para que no…crucemos otra vez.”)