Embedded Files
Uplifting Stockton's immigrant communities through testimonials
Our website embodies testimonies of immigrant community members as well as crucial information about immigrant rights.
What is our goal with sharing testimonies?
What is our goal with sharing testimonies?
The goal is to celebrate the roots, lives, and journeys of people from different parts of the world that have come to the United States. Immigrant communities are often subject to negative opinions and their humanity is disregarded. To overpower this negativity, lets celebrate the lives of immigrants by hearing their stories!
The goal is to celebrate the roots, lives, and journeys of people from different parts of the world that have come to the United States. Immigrant communities are often subject to negative opinions and their humanity is disregarded. To overpower this negativity, lets celebrate the lives of immigrants by hearing their stories!
Below you will find four testimonies, in text and/or audio, of four members of Stockton's community. Take a moment to listen, or read, some of our stories.
Below you will find four testimonies, in text and/or audio, of four members of Stockton's community. Take a moment to listen, or read, some of our stories.
We thank the community members who shared their stories of strength and resilience with us. We honor your life journeys.
Anonymous Immigrant Community Member: (Can we put any more information about the community member? Where they're from, etc? If not that's completely fine, I'm just curious /LM)
Q: When did you immigrate to the United States and what motivated you to do so?
A: I immigrated to the US in the 90s and I was motivated to do so in order to pursue a better and more financially independent life since my home country did not have a lot of jobs. I had a Masters in Education from my home country but when I came here I decided to adopt nursing as my profession instead of teaching because nurses were in high demand and I needed to a stable job to support my family back home."
Q: What is the most difficult part of being an immigrant or the child/descendant of immigrants?
A: The most difficult part of being an immigrant is adapting. Not only do you have to adapt to a new culture and new language, you also have to adapt to the individualistic culture of the US. Most developing countries are a lot more community based whereas the US is more independent and this makes the transition to living in America much harder. Nevertheless, the frequent racism and discrimination that immigrants face makes everything a million times harder."
Q: How has your experience or your family’s experience as immigrants in the U.S. been? Has been positive or negative?
A: The experience has been both positive and negative. Coming to America is not the end, it's the beginning of a long journey of struggle, hard work, hustle, and resilience. It takes a lot to leave your family and stay away from them but at least we are able to help them financially by doing so.
angelica_riveraedited.mp3ANGELICA RIVERA
ANGELICA RIVERA
Fifty year-old woman, originally from Mexico
This interview was conducted in Spanish, and can be listened to on the left; a translated English transcript can be found below , with appropriate timestamps.
A. Rivera | English Transcript
A. Rivera | English Transcript
[0:02] Q: Where were you born?
A: In Mexico.
[0:05] Q: And do you remember what year you immigrated to the US?
A: In 1997.
[0:11] Q: And can you tell me why you immigrated to the US?
A: I immigrated because I got married.
[0:18] Q: And why did you come to Stockton?
A: I came here because [he] was here, lived here.
[0:25] Q: Do you know how many years you’ve lived here now?
A: Approximately 20 years.
[0:30] Q: And aside from your husband, do you have family here in Stockton or in the US?
A: Unfortunately, no.
[0:35] Q: What was one of the hardest things about moving to the US? What was the greatest obstacle?
A: Crossing the border, arriving to a country where you don’t speak the language. Finding, how, how, like, not finding community, you don’t find people who speak the same language as you do. Difficulties, the loneliness, the silence. The, going to the doctors and they don’t speak your language. The medical resources. Uhm, also before the bus, the difference of the cars to get to places that you had to go, it was about a two hours’ difference. The biggest obstacle to coming here is leaving your family and arriving to a country where the diversity of the cultures is very very different, and they mark you a lot for racism.
[1:59] Q: How do you manage in your own life those types of situations, with the racism?
A: To manage the racism, ignoring it. I think one of the things that’s helped me a lot is ignoring it. Although people, the sarcasm that you’re from Mexico, you’re Mexican, the people make you feel like you don’t belong in this country, people insult you, they tell you you have a cactus on your forehead, that you don’t speak the language, that braceros, that you come from Mexico, that we’re, they’ve insulted me thinking, you travel, you come to this country because you’ve committed some crime in your country and the lack of trust in the community. It’s very difficult for someone, for me, even being a woman, adapting to the people. Because I came from a city, and around the time I came there were a lot of people from the fields, and it was very hard to adapt because of the same culture they have in Mexico. And they also applied racism to me because I didn’t belong to that culture, the fields, they always called me “the girl from the city,” and they would push me aside for my way of thinking, my desire for progress. They marked me that… Because I liked to involve myself, when I started to get to know the community I liked to get involved in events, to learn and help other people, to open their path, because I would’ve liked that there would’ve been people behind me to guide me for what’s best for my personal life, whether it be emotionally, psychologically, or spiritually, or for job development.
[4:10] Q: What type of advice would you give someone recently immigrated to the US?
A: The first thing that I would say is to join a community. A community, whether it be a church, places that they’ll begin to find their own language, they’ll have the opportunity to find an open door to find [people] that will instruct them about jobs, medical services. About language areas, to go study and to prepare themselves for the future.
[4:45] Q: If you could go back in time, what would you tell yourself before immigrating to the US?
A: Wow. Well, go to the US first and if you don’t like it don’t return.
[5:01, Interviewer] Yes, that’s important. Is there something you miss from your country?
A: Everything. I miss my culture, my family, my people. My job, the way I used to go about. I miss those nights where I could go out on the street with that confidence or with that human warmth where I used to go back Mexican tacos, a little pozole. I used to go out to feel that warmth from the community that for me was something very important and a thing that marked me a lot, because when I came here the thing that marked me was the lack of human warmth. And the loneliness leaves a mark. All those places where you used to go, suddenly you come to a place where it’s a different culture, and you have to adapt to that culture, no? And even in the way of speech, the way of how people think, how the people communicate with you, how people treat you. It’s hard, it’s hard, it’s very hard. Starting to adjust to that way of life, I think one of the things that’s helped me a lot was the spiritual, and asking God for strength to adapt to this culture.
[6:24] Q: I know you’ve talked about being involved in the community before. In the future, what kind of resources would you like to see immigrant communities receive?
A: I think one of the ones I’d like the most is the medical area. I think it’s a very important area and the change, that there was more people that spoke our language, that every person speaks. It’s very important because I’d love, when people come here or they don’t have economic resources, a lot of people don’t know where to go, the economic, medical resources are the most terrible things that can happen, including as a woman, because of illnesses. That’s why I think a lot of the time for me, it would be the medical, the academic, and the jobs.
[7:24] Q: What’s one of the things you think people forget quickly about the immigrant experience in the US?
A: I think that it’s not that people know and forget. I think one of the things that one does is forget to survive. Because many things, many times, happen across your life. From when you leave your home, cross to the United States, you know that many times you won’t be able to return.
[7:58, Interviewer] The last question of our interview…
[8:00, Rivera] The last one?
[8:01, Interviewer] Q: Is there something that we haven’t talked about that you’d like to share about your experience as an immigrant?
A: Wow, yes. I’ve love that there would be a community where they would support us emotionally and psychologically. That they would make us feel like brothers, the brotherhood of the community. That they would hug us with more human warmth. I think it’s one of the things that we’re losing. There’s a lot of human coldness. I don’t know whether it’s the fear to connect with people who come from another country, the insecurity, and this, I would love even being a participant of a support group where I could show them where to direct themselves when they have some sort of necessity, whether it’s medical, emotional or psychological. A thing that’s very important that we go through in this country is that, that I’ve seen are the problems of depression. Many times, for us as Mexicans, it’s a myth to speak about depression, it’s a taboo, and very sad because many people get sick emotionally, alone. Thank the Lord that hasn’t happened to me, but I’ve seen many people who suffer in silence because of this illness of depression.
Anonymous Community Member
A fifty-five year-old male, originally from Guanajuato, Mexico.
Note: The following interview was originally conducted in Spanish, and then transcribed and translated into English.
Q: Why did you immigrate to the United States? What personal goals did you have when you first immigrated to the United States?
A: I moved to the United States to have a better life. I wanted to improve my life. I got out of school because my family needed the money. In Mexico, jobs do not pay well. I would have never imagined buying a car in Mexico. If I wanted a car I wouldn't have had money for other important things. But here I have the means to help myself and my family. My goal was to work to help my parents and my siblings back in Mexico, something that would not have been easy if I stayed there A lot of people that immigrate to the United States move here because they want to better their lives. There's a lot of people that are escaping war, death, and violence in their countries too.
Q: What is the most challenging part of immigrating to the United States?
A: Moving here by myself. For many years I could not see my family. I lived alone for many years. I did not have my parents or a brother or sister. It gets lonely and it's difficult. Sometimes you feel bad and you don't know what to do. For a while, I drank a lot to cope with these negative emotions. Thanks to God, I was able to stop drinking. It's just about being strong and keeping on fighting. I had to remind myself I was here for my family. But now I always miss my family. It's not easy being away from your family and living in a country where you don't speak the language. There's always a feeling of wanting to be with your family and in the place where you grew up in.
Q: Based on your personal experience, what is the best part of being an immigrant in the United States?
A: In 1986, I was able to green card because of the amnesty law Ronald Reagan passed. Because of the amnesty, I am fortunate to be here without any fear. I was able to get greencards for my wife and daughters, and now we can be here together. I was able to buy a house, something that a lot of people can't do. I'm still paying the house, it's not fully ours yet, but it allows me to give my family a better life. I can give my daughters the means to better their lives too. My daughter has mental and physical disabilities, and here she has received a lot of help. We received financial assistance for an important surgery for her. Back in Mexico we would not have been able to pay for her surgery at all.
Q: What are you most proud of in your life?
A: Of my family. My wife and daughters, because my family is something I was able to create.
Q: Are you proud to be an immigrant?
A: Yes. I am proud to be Mexican. I had the opportunity to become a United States citizen, but I am still Mexican. I'll never forget where I come from and my roots. If you are an immigrant this country takes a lot from you, but it also gives. Being here I have been able to help my family and that's all I wanted.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse