Vidal’s Story

Vidal M. walked for four days and three nights at the age of 17 to pursue his dream of coming to America. He is now a married 29-year-old with a job and a dream to one day become an entrepreneur.  

In 2006, Vidal told his parents he wanted to come to America to create a new life for himself. They did not like that proposition. “If you don’t let me go I will go by myself,” he told them. They eventually said yes because Vidal put them in a tough situation.

His journey began on the 9^th of May in 2006 in Mexico with an ex-boyfriend of his sisters and ended May 16^th with his aunt in America.

Vidal’s sister’s ex-boyfriend knew someone that could help them. In 2006 it was cheap so they charged him $3,000.

Coyotaje (coyote) are a group who smuggle people into the U.S. from Mexico. This group is often compared to the Mafia. They will help get you into America, but only on their terms.

The Coyotaje found them a hotel to stay in for a few days. They are very smart and know what to do in case of a situation with ICE or the police. “Once we got to the hotel we had to stay there for a few days because they tried to recruit a lot of people,” Vidal said. Not everybody will cross but we each person is paying 3,000 to 5,000 dollars and the Coyotaje want to bring 30 people; that is a lot of money for them.

What is very important about this process is that the immigrants cannot call the Coyotaje Coyotaje. They must call him guy. The Coyotaje is risking his life by leading all of these people to the U.S. so nobody can know who he is.

The journey began in the desert and lasted four days. There was one Coyotaje in the front of the pack, one in the middle, and one in the back. “We had to follow them in any situation,” Vidal said, “because the desert is dangerous.” There are snakes, spiders, and animals. You must sleep on the ground and sometimes there is no water.

They had to walk during the nighttime when it was dark and had to hide during the day because ICE would fly around in helicopters looking for them. From the times of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. they would fearfully hide and the rest of the night they tirelessly walk step by step.

While on their way to “the North” as they call America, Vidal and his friend got jumped by two men wearing masks and carrying large guns. They were most likely working with the Coyotaje, according to Vidal. Coyotaje know the area so they will wait for people to drive by to rob them. “I had 100 pesos and they took it away.” He was left with two cents, not even enough to make a call.

The Coyotaje play games with the group. On the third night they said they were almost there so they better drop their backpacks and water because whoever will pick them up will bring them water and food. This was not always the case. Sometimes the drivers would bring these supplies, but sometimes they would not care.

A lie was told by the Coyotaje. They were not almost there. At 11 a.m., hiding because they did not make it, they were lost.

This journey is very hard for many people. Some get broken legs and some try three, four, or five times to cross, and some do not even make it. When the group got to the U.S. border, they crossed easily. “We didn’t have that many problems. The only problem was when we got lost and we had to drink dirty water that cows drink,” Vidal explained.  

When Vidal decided to take on this journey he did not have a lot of money. “I had one opportunity to cross. If I got caught by ICE, I would not have another chance to cross,” he tells me. Most of the people suffered, but for me it wasn’t too hard.”

For the next steps of the journey, more Coyotaje had to pick the group up in a car. When the drivers got close to the place Vidal was hiding, he had to prepare himself to be speedy quick. Multiple men would pack into one car, some on the floor and some on the back part of the car. Vidal got lucky because he was fast. But you have to be smart as well. “You never know who you are dealing with, so you have to be careful,” he said.

Vidal’s final destination was his aunt’s house in North Carolina. She was going to pay the Coyotaje the rest of the money but she did not answer her phone when they were getting closer to North Carolina. Because of this he had to be the last person to get dropped off. They went to New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and finally back to North Carolina.

His new life in America finally began. Vidal started working as a farmer which he was not very fond of; it was too much like Mexico, but he had to stay for a couple months to repay the money his aunt loaned him. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I was living in a trailer. I wanted to see a street, I wanted to see people I wanted to see buildings.” He lasted two months and was then off to live with his uncle in Milwaukee.

Vidal was now 17-years-old and wanted a job. This was not too easy for him because he did not look his age. Many businesses he applied to said, “He looks 12, he needs to go to school, he isn’t 21.” Because of this he had to get a fake ID since he didn’t speak English and he didn’t know how the system worked.

He landed a job at a restaurant as the overnight dishwasher and soon became a bus boy which helped with his English. Finally, he moved out of his uncles when he paid him back.

Vidal’s aunt told him he had to make time to go to school so that he could learn English because “There are a lot of opportunities over here,” she said. He took three semesters of English at MATC and “fell in love with American music”. He pushed himself to start writing in English and he is now fluent.

He has not been back to Mexico since 2006 and three years ago he lost his mom. He could not visit her before she passed because it was too expensive. If he were still in Mexico, he would be married with three kids. He is married now but does not have kids. When it is time to have kids, he is going to make sure to give them what he didn’t have, but not just hand it over. He will teach them they will have to work for it.

“I know I am going to become something sooner or later,” Vidal says. “If you do it with love, you are going to make it.” He is a big believer of karma.

Last year Vidal applied to become a documented citizen and they answered, however Vidal needs to save money for a lawyer. Coming to America and going through the process of getting legalized is not an easy process whatsoever, but Vidal yearned for this new life and he fought his way through. Hope and strength is what really kept him going.

“Dream big baby! If an illegal immigrant is working for his dream, why can’t you?” Vidal exclaims.