By Betsy Brewer Brantner
Contributing Writer

Why would immigrants come to a country that doesn’t want them? The answer is this: the United States of America did want them.

It’s a long and winding story which, for the purposes of this story, begins after World War II, when Mexicans were encouraged to come to the United States through the Bracero Program, a joint agreement between the U.S. and Mexican governments. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President of the United States at that time. The war created a critical shortage of agricultural workers due to men leaving farms to fight in the war. The program ran from 1942 until 1964.

It was through that program that a young Mexican family came to Texas. We will call them the “Garcia family,” although that is not their real name. The story is real and being told to me by their son, who we will call “Juan” at this time.

To set the record straight, both the parents and their son became U.S. citizens legally. Juan served in the military and was honorably discharged.

“My family brought me here in 1955,” Juan said. “They brought me here for an education. My father said if I had a good education I couldn’t spend it or throw it away.”

His first job in the U.S. was the same as many immigrant children— to learn the language.

Juan explained, “My job as the first person to go through English school was to teach them English. I did. I negotiated our first real estate purchase at the age of 13.”

Juan continued, “My next job was picking onions around Pecos in the Rio Grande Valley at the age of five. You used shears to cut off roots and tops and would put them in a canvas bag. Since my hands were so small, it was hard to use the shears. I would fill a bag of onions and we would get paid for what we picked. No matter how little you picked, you got paid and it added up.” 

He remembered starting school when he was six. From then on, he would work every summer. He also remembered chopping cotton for seven cents when he turned eight to buy his own clothes.

“On my way home from the cotton field, I’d get a Coke and peanuts,” he explained.

When he was 14, he got a full-time job bagging groceries. His family became citizens under President Ronald Reagan.

“In the 1980s, if you were living in the country, you were considered a resident alien, which meant you were allowed to live and work there,” Juan explained. “But, every January, you had to go to the Immigration Office and fill out forms. After so many years, you could apply for citizenship. I remember my parents studying to take their test in Dallas. My father only had a first grade education, but was anxious to take the test. Both of them passed the test and were proud of their accomplishment.” 

At that time, Juan recalls, the draft came along and he had choices to make.

“I didn’t want to get drafted so I joined the Navy,” he explained. “I wanted to be a technical billet. I’ve always been very technical. Once they found out I could fix things, they made me an electrician.” 

He was in the Navy for four years and achieved the rank of E5. The Navy was good to him, Juan said. 

“It was definitely a good experience,” he said. “It took me out of my West Texas mentality and expanded my horizons. I spent a lot of time in the Mediterranean and enjoyed many different kinds of food and experiences. I’ve eaten Greek food, saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and went looking for Budweiser in Italy. I got promoted and travelled the world.”

He loved traveling and he and his wife were able to travel to Spain. He made a great life for his family when he got out of the Navy. He has always had an entrepreneurial spirit and along the way he created a lot of different businesses. He worked in a variety of fields but has really made his living from his knowledge of software programming and other computer skills. Even now that he is retired, he is doing another project for the company he retired from. He likes to stay busy.

However, these days, he also feels like the life he built in this country means nothing. He is a legal citizen, but feels like he has to carry his passport everywhere.

“I felt like I had a good life, but suddenly out of nowhere, the rules are changing for many U.S. citizens,” Juan said. “I feel like I am targeted. I feel this country is looking for some pretext to get rid of me. I don’t like to say I’m paranoid, but I feel in some way I have to be prepared for any scenario. I see what has happened to other citizens. It doesn’t seem to matter if they are legal or not, ICE doesn’t listen to you. Even if you show them you are a citizen, you can still wind up in jail. ICE has a quota and that is all they are concerned with.”

Juan could be anyone’s next door neighbor—and a good neighbor at that. He is well read and has a phenomenal mind and personality, which is to say he could make a success of anything he chose. But simply because of his looks the life he has worked so hard to create, and even with all of his successes, he knows he has to be at attention all the time for whatever this current climate might bring him and his family. He is a confident, positive, self-made man, and because of that he will go on living his best life enjoying his family, his grandchildren, reading and learning.

“I have learned how to live with fear,” he said. “I encourage my family and friends to vote. That is the only way we can make a change in this world.”

He is proud of his accomplishments and will tell his grandchildren about them. He has a military mind and will adapt. When asked if there was something he would like to say to the person reading this, he said simply, “I love America.”