April 21, 2022 • 26 mins
Hosts Patty Rodriguez and Erick Galindo reflect on their lives as children of immigrants. They realize that a pivotal moment in their parents and their lives was in fact the signing of IRCA in 1986. That moment defined our generation.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi listeners, just a quick heads up out of the
shadows tell stories of people fleeing and living in sometimes
violent environments. There's an old, faded photo of me that
captures a moment at a party in Mexico, my birthday party,
(00:21):
to be exact. My mouth is slightly open, I am
wearing pigtails in a fluffy blue dress. I'm in my
dad's arms and he's carrying me and my little brother John.
The moment is filled with movement. My uncle in the
(00:50):
back claimed the accordion. Other kids running around could be
my cousin's standing off to the side, trying to peek
over my dad's shoulders, and one of them is just
staring at the camera like a deer in headlights. And
right as the camera shutters, my dad blinks. The back
(01:16):
of that photo is stamped November. I didn't know it yet,
but back in the States, that same date that is
stamped on the back of that photo, November. The most
unlikely allied to immigrants just signed IRKA, the Immigration Reform
and Control Act, into law, allowing millions of immigrants and
(01:40):
their children and their children's children to plant roots in
this country. I've had this realization that my life, my
parents life, and possibly even your life wouldn't have been possible.
Oh hey, Eric, So I've been thinking about our lives, Hey, Patty,
(02:06):
and it's starting to make sense. So I need you
to hear me out. I think our lives would have
been impossible without Ronald Reagan. El Salvador is nearer to
Texas than Texas is to Massachusetts. Yeah. That guy, damn.
That's my co host and also best friend, Eric Eric Glendo.
(02:26):
We've known each other since we were eighteen selling shoes
at J. C. Penny. You know, back then we didn't
have people to look up to, and now we're a force.
I'm Patty Rodriguez and I'm Eric Glendo. And this is
Out of the Shadows Children of eighty six. Immigrants and
(02:51):
their children have long lived in the shadows of America.
Their destinies aren't just shaped by where they come from,
but by their particular place in history. In nineteen eighty six,
the lives of millions of immigrants and their children were
changed by one lucky stroke of a pen by an
unlikely ally, President Ronald Reagan. This podcast will examine the
ripple effics the bill had on first generation kids of
(03:12):
immigrants who are navigating intergenerational mobility and transforming the cultural landscape.
This is an untold story of luck, timing, triumph, opportunity, survival,
and of course I hope I never thought of asking
(03:41):
my parents why they came here. I mean, I knew
they came here to the u S undocumented, and I
also knew that at some point they got a green card,
and the green card mint being legal, legal to be
here in this country without fear of being deported. Yeah. Same,
I mean I knew it happened, and I was thankful,
But as a kid, I had never really asked my
parents how or why they came here, right, I mean
(04:04):
I never I never sat down and reflected on how
it happened, or or the wild fact that both my parents,
my deals, my theas, and millions of other people, including
your parents, erk received legal residency all at the same time.
And thank god they did, because this country as we
(04:26):
know it today wouldn't be the same because Latinos, Latinas, Latino, Hispanic,
latin X, whatever you want to call us, we're here.
When my grandmother got here, she never could have imagined
one of her grandsons would be standing with you here
today to say these words. I am a candidate for
(04:46):
President of the United States of America. For the first
time in history, no candidate and no political party could
reach the White House without the Hispanic port. Latinos play
a key role in economic growth, as their buying power
jumped to more than one point seven trillion dollars in
the last ten years alone. The number of Latino business
(05:07):
owners has grown compared to just three for all others.
It's a momento, its momento, this is our moment. There's
no better example of the success of Latinox people than
(05:28):
Boulevard Market in l A Boulevard Market is a food
hall made of converted shipping containers. It's just east of
downtown Los Angeles and Manabello, the heart of l as
San Gabriel Valley. It opened in and it's so special
(05:48):
to me. It's a place where Latin X families come
every day to spend money on tackles, fresh Cevie chick
and melt in your mouth bush. But it's so much
more than food. There's life, music, art, culture, and most
importantly community. Thousands of people come here every month to
(06:15):
live their best life. It's a reminder of how far
We've come that we can have spaces that are built
by us and for us. You got Cafe Santo that's
from Wakaka. You have Vitos that are Salvadorian past Cantina
which is coastal Mexican. You have Nola, which is New
(06:37):
Orleans food. You have which is Mexican and Guatemalan. Tacos
there fused together. This is Barney Santos. He owns Boulevard Market.
He's giving us a tour of the place. You know,
as simple as this idea sounds, it's kind of It
was kind of a radical one when we started it right,
like to say like, okay, we're gonna build this hybrid
(06:57):
entrepreneurship social enterprise that lie is Latino owns that focuses
on black and brown founders. That creates a platform. Growing up,
we used to create our own spaces and parks, dirt
lots or swap meats wherever we could find it. Really
nothing was permanent. Everything felt fleeting. All of that is here,
living and breathing and eating tacos at Boulevard Market. Being
(07:22):
here feels like establishing permanent. Like now we own our
own spaces. It's a big deal. Barney's an entrepreneur, hustler,
and he got his entrepreneurial spirit from his parents, who
immigrated to the US from El Salvador. Like, just to
come to this country is entrepreneurial in itself right, and
(07:42):
then being in this country, like my mother and my
father both were always doing something some side hustle, selling perfume,
selling clothes. My dad would make bracelets and I would
go with him to Sign of Monica to sell them
to people. You know, So I learned about like sales
and entrepreneurship from them. I would and be who I
am if it wasn't for that entrepreneurial spirit that they had,
(08:03):
and for the opportunity that we were able to even
just be here in this country because of everything that
happened politically in the eighties. So my mother became a
citizen because of the amnestatment. Standing in Boulevard Market, when
I see all of this, I think of two unbelievable things.
The first one is that I own a small piece
(08:24):
of this me a first generation daughter of immigrants from Lynnwood,
from Southeast LA. I invested in this place, and wow,
it belongs to us. And the second thing I think
about is that none of this would be possible if
it weren't for Ronald Reagan. That's right, the guy who
(08:48):
is considered a god in conservative circles and a devil
in most of Latin America. This is why this is
so complicated. He created a type of poverty and the
war on drugs that devastate my community. But also in
six he signed a bill that would eventually grant amnesty
to three million undocumented people. That's three million people that
(09:13):
came out of the shadows and built the America we
are seeing today. We weren't supposed to come out of
the shadows, but we did. Out of the shadows. Will
be right back now, back to the show. So what
(09:41):
exactly is Irka? Eric? Can you break it down for us? Yeah,
for sure, because basically what I like to think of
as the street name for the Immigration Reform and Control
Act of six If you're wondering why congressional bill has
a street name, well, ship was monumental on the streets.
(10:05):
It's the first comprehensive immigration reform law of its kind
in US history. But Urka is like an M. C.
Scher painting. What you see when you look at it
may depend on your reality. On one hand, Ker gave
three million people, many of Latino dissent amnesty. That means
three million green cards, establishing a pathway to citizenship for
(10:27):
undocumented immigrants, a way to establish roots without the constant
fear of deportation. But there was one catch. You had
to prove that you were in the US before. But
Urka was an effort to curb the flow of immigration
by providing sanctions to employers who hired undocumented immigrants. It
(10:48):
was not that amnesty plus heavy fines and strict border
enforcement would stop the flow spoilers. No sanctions were issued,
the flow didn't stop, and enforcement has only gotten more punitive.
You see, America has his unchecked addiction to cheap labor.
Most of that comes from undocumented immigrants. Most of them
come from Mexico and Central America to pick and harvest
(11:11):
our produce, make our clothes, and clean the homes of
middle class and wealthy Americans. Despite how vital immigrant laborers
to our industries, agricultural ak, the food we garment, the
clothes you wear, domestic the people who landscape, clean and
build your houses, and raise and take care of your children.
That's not even mentioning the contributions to the economy. Despite
(11:33):
how vital immigrant labors to our industries, this country refuses
to recognize them as citizens, should even as residents. To
put it in a different way, the US needs the
cheap labor of immigrants, but won't allow them to be
part of this country. So Urica was supposed to be
a one time deal, the immigration reform to end all
immigration reform, but it wasn't that simple. On this podcast,
(11:58):
you're gonna hear from some of the people who they're
like Alan Simpson, one of the principal sponsors of IRKA
in the Senate, in let's not do a story for
the audience. Let's just do an honest story, and then
the audience will either pick it up or understand or
they won't, but we'll get into that later. Nonetheless, for
millions of undocumented sons, daughters, deals Primosa's parents, IRKA was
(12:23):
a chance, a shot of becoming American and stepping out
of the shadows. And two of those people where my parents.
And it all started with my mom and a wild,
terrifying chase to the Sonoran Desert. My name is Paula,
(12:47):
and I'm hearing that you say. For forty two years,
is you no one? And whatever you do? You remember?
Do you remember you arrived for the first time? Yeah?
I remember. The first time my mom came to this
(13:07):
country was in nine when she crossed the river. My
dad was already here working for a few years, and
my mom, who was sixteen at the time, came to
meet him. She came with nothing more than a backpack
full of clothes and dreams of becoming a mariachi singer.
Oh we crossed the river at night, uh, and the
(13:28):
water covers meet up to my shoulders. After she crossed,
my mom lived into who managed musicians. She take care
of my cousins on weekdays and sing mariachi on weekends.
It was like made me very happy to sing, you know,
(13:49):
in public with a mariachi. A few years later I
was born. She got a job in the gartment in
the street through a family friend. She liked to employers
and told them she was eighteen. I used to live,
party and bed in order to to be a better person,
you know, to have his skills, because in this country
(14:11):
it worked so hard to to find a job. You
don't have a good English, or you do speak English,
you know with my but English. But they gave me
the opportunity. My mom was trying to finish night school,
but then she got pregnant again and had my brother John,
the one from the photo. Around this time, my dad
(14:31):
got into an accident. He couldn't work, needed medical attention,
and was scared of being deported, so we all went
back to Mexico. After all that, crossing the river, dodging lamigra,
struggling with two kids in that country where they didn't
know the language, they just went back home. But my
(14:53):
parents were actually happy in Mexico. They bought a house.
My mom had dreams of starting her own business. Us
I was a toddler and John was just a baby.
But my mom had her parents there to help, something
she didn't have here in the States, so there was
no need to give up her dreams. There was no
need to stop her education or quit jobs for us.
(15:15):
You know, I was very happy because it was maybe
the mhm. The house are you know my my dreams?
You know, it was big. So this brings us back
to that photo I mentioned on the top of the show.
(15:35):
Life seemed good for my parents, and then I got
sick m hm. So the doctor told me, you need
to go back to what you say, because she's gonna
die here. So we we just took a bass to
(15:58):
t J to try to know to pass do you
say again? To Los Angeles once again. My mom decided
to sacrifice her life in Mexico, sacrifice her home, her
dreams for a better life for her kids, to literally
save my life. So in November, my dad, my mom,
(16:21):
my brother John, and I take a bus to Tijuana
to meet. We were told to meet at a house
in the desert and when we got there, it is
packed with people just like us who are all going
to cross. I remember there were a lot, a lot
(16:41):
of people in the house, you know, sleeping on on
the floor, and and me and my kids as well,
John and Patty. They had a big bend and they said,
we are going to cross the border and the band
so you you guys, so we are going all that way.
(17:04):
You know, we're going to dry you know that way
to Los Angeles. We're not going to stop. But my
mom had this plan. Since my brother and I are
natural born citizens, we don't need to cross through the
desert with them. I don't want you to to put
in a risk, you know, because I knew already the
(17:24):
first time. How dangerous it was. My dad calls his
cousin in Los Angeles to pick us up, but he
never shows up. So we call Saraho and he said, no, no,
I can't. He had a recent Probably, oh, he wasn't scared,
because at the time, you know a lot of people
who wasn't scared of everything. A stranger in the house,
(17:47):
here's what's going on, and offers to cross me and
my brother with our birth certificates. She promises my mom
she'd meet her on the other side, and my mom desperately,
in naively agrees to hand over her children to her. Yeah,
out of the shadows, will be right back now, back
(18:13):
to the show. My mom can't imagine her children crossing
the desert, but as she's walking away, something doesn't feel right.
Maybe God, oh I don't know, put in mind in
my mind and I say, oh, no, I cannot give
(18:33):
you my my kids. Imagine every time I remember that,
I could ask my my Patty and John if something happened.
Something is going to happen. But I want them by you,
by me, with me by my side. And here we are,
all four of us, And I remember this so vividly
(18:54):
when it was our turn. My family got in the van.
It was raining that night, and we're packed in this
white cargo van that was never made to drive through
the desert, packed just like Sardine's. The smell of fear, uncertainty,
and yes, even hope. It was permading throughout. As we
(19:19):
begin our track through the mountainous desert terrain, Our heads
and bodies bang against the cold, thin walls every time
the wheels drive over muddy potholes and slippery rocks. The
rain has transformed the ground into a swamp. Suddenly the
van stops. Everyone looks around as panic starts to sit in.
(19:40):
I can tell something's wrong. Okay, let's think about this.
I'm three years old. Because when kids are at that
age and they see stuff they don't they can't really
process what's going on, but they feel that something doesn't
feel right. Like I'm looking around and no one's really
assuring me that things are okay. We hear the driver's
being on the gas, the sound of the revving engine,
(20:03):
but we're not moving. The sound of rain hitting meadow
heightened the anxiety. My brother's diaper is soaked and he's crying.
Women are praying. My mother's praying. My dad and a
couple of other men are forced to get out and push.
I follow him, the rain falling heavy on all of us.
(20:26):
When we noticed one of the tires is very deep,
the spinning wheels flapping mud everywhere. Back in the car,
somebody screams lamiger, and I feel my entire body turning
against me. I'm only three years old, but I know
what that word means. How do they find us? Maybe
(20:50):
they sense the fear radiating from all of us, like
sharks drawn to blood. So men are pushing you think
their entire weight, so it being on the mud and
loosing their footing. The rain and prayers grow louder. This
is now or never, and one last push and the
(21:11):
rear left wheel is eventually free from the mud pit.
We only have seconds to jump back in. We are
being followed. One man aren't with herbs and prayers, tells
everyone to wear the herbs and pray. They'll protect us.
He says, but the roads are not kind to the
border patrol either. After we put a mile of distance
(21:34):
between them, we lose them. It was hard, I mean
for them, because probably they didn't want to ris themselves.
And uh and for a my leg or something. They
stopped following us, and after that everything was good to hear.
(21:56):
To this day, we will never know if the herbs
and prayers worked, but my mom seems to think it did.
It is because of my mom's courage that I'm even
here today telling her story. But that was just the
beginning of my mom's fight to be here. I think
back on that photo of my dad holding me and John.
(22:17):
My mom must have taken that, and I don't think
my parents knew back then that President Reagan had just
gotten a bill on his desk that would create a
path towards citizenship for millions of families like ours. We
were on the verge of coming out of the shadows.
But it wouldn't be easy. And just like that first
(22:38):
time when she held all her dreams slung over her
shoulders while crossing the Raging River, are shot at the
American dream would all hinge on documents in a backpack
she carried. When I asked my mom why she had
that backpack, she said, in the most innocent tone, I
just say, well, maybe just like to remember it. I
(23:00):
was here, but we weren't alone. It was amazing things.
The more I've learned about it since, like talking to
Patty about it back in the day, Like I was
just diving deep into it more and more talking to
my mom about it, getting her sort of like perspective
on it. The more I was like, Wow, this is
kind of like it was a serendipitous moment that happened
in time that kind of allowed a lot lot of
(23:22):
us to kind of build on, you know, that legacy
and to do amazing stuff here in the country. The
Immigration Reform and Control Act of would end up changing
the lives of countless of people in birth the circumstances
for a Latinos renaissance in this country, Latini that would
wind up shaping American culture, saving its aging economy, and
(23:43):
shifting the paradigm. And we're going to tell you how
and why it all happened this season and out of
the Shadows, we will explore the legacy of Urka through
the eyes of the folks who lived it. How one
(24:07):
bill is signed by the man responsible for devastating land
America also gave three million immigrants a piece of hope.
What did it take to pass the bill? And why
was Ronald Reagan the person to do it? This season
on out of the Shadows. Out of the Shadows is
(24:29):
written by Caesar Hernandez. It's also written, edited, hosted, an
executive produced by Patti Rodriguez and Eric Galindo. It's produced
by Bets Cardanaz, Karen Lopez and Gabby Watts. It's sound design,
mixed and mastered by Jesse nice Longer. Our studio engineer
is Clay Hillenburg. Karen Garcia That's Me is our announcer.
(24:54):
Out of the Shadows is the production of Seeing Me,
Other Productions and School of Humans in partnership with I
Hearts Michael Dura Podcast Network. The podcast is also executive
produced by Giselle Banzes, Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr and Chad Crowley.
Our marketing and our team is led by Jasmine Mehia.
(25:16):
Original music by a Arenas and if you loved his
cover of Los Caminos la vida this podcast theme song,
you can listen to it on all music platforms. Historical
audio for Out of the Shadows comes from the Reagan
Presidential Library and the National Archives. Special thanks to Ian Vargas,
(25:39):
Alex and Ali Caitlin, Betger gob Chabran, Daisy Church, Angel
Lopez Galindo Julianna Gamis, Ryan Gordon, Brian Matheson, Claudia Marty Corina,
Oscar Ramidrez, John Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez, Joshua Sandoval, Eric Sclar,
(26:03):
Tony Sorrentino, and Megan tan Or more podcasts, visit the
I Heart Radio app, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows
Hi listeners, just a quick heads up out of the
shadows tell stories of people fleeing and living in sometimes
violent environments. There's an old, faded photo of me that
captures a moment at a party in Mexico, my birthday party,
(00:21):
to be exact. My mouth is slightly open, I am
wearing pigtails in a fluffy blue dress. I'm in my
dad's arms and he's carrying me and my little brother John.
The moment is filled with movement. My uncle in the
(00:50):
back claimed the accordion. Other kids running around could be
my cousin's standing off to the side, trying to peek
over my dad's shoulders, and one of them is just
staring at the camera like a deer in headlights. And
right as the camera shutters, my dad blinks. The back
(01:16):
of that photo is stamped November. I didn't know it yet,
but back in the States, that same date that is
stamped on the back of that photo, November. The most
unlikely allied to immigrants just signed IRKA, the Immigration Reform
and Control Act, into law, allowing millions of immigrants and
(01:40):
their children and their children's children to plant roots in
this country. I've had this realization that my life, my
parents life, and possibly even your life wouldn't have been possible.
Oh hey, Eric, So I've been thinking about our lives, Hey, Patty,
(02:06):
and it's starting to make sense. So I need you
to hear me out. I think our lives would have
been impossible without Ronald Reagan. El Salvador is nearer to
Texas than Texas is to Massachusetts. Yeah. That guy, damn.
That's my co host and also best friend, Eric Eric Glendo.
(02:26):
We've known each other since we were eighteen selling shoes
at J. C. Penny. You know, back then we didn't
have people to look up to, and now we're a force.
I'm Patty Rodriguez and I'm Eric Glendo. And this is
Out of the Shadows Children of eighty six. Immigrants and
(02:51):
their children have long lived in the shadows of America.
Their destinies aren't just shaped by where they come from,
but by their particular place in history. In nineteen eighty six,
the lives of millions of immigrants and their children were
changed by one lucky stroke of a pen by an
unlikely ally, President Ronald Reagan. This podcast will examine the
ripple effics the bill had on first generation kids of
(03:12):
immigrants who are navigating intergenerational mobility and transforming the cultural landscape.
This is an untold story of luck, timing, triumph, opportunity, survival,
and of course I hope I never thought of asking
(03:41):
my parents why they came here. I mean, I knew
they came here to the u S undocumented, and I
also knew that at some point they got a green card,
and the green card mint being legal, legal to be
here in this country without fear of being deported. Yeah. Same,
I mean I knew it happened, and I was thankful,
But as a kid, I had never really asked my
parents how or why they came here, right, I mean
(04:04):
I never I never sat down and reflected on how
it happened, or or the wild fact that both my parents,
my deals, my theas, and millions of other people, including
your parents, erk received legal residency all at the same time.
And thank god they did, because this country as we
(04:26):
know it today wouldn't be the same because Latinos, Latinas, Latino, Hispanic,
latin X, whatever you want to call us, we're here.
When my grandmother got here, she never could have imagined
one of her grandsons would be standing with you here
today to say these words. I am a candidate for
(04:46):
President of the United States of America. For the first
time in history, no candidate and no political party could
reach the White House without the Hispanic port. Latinos play
a key role in economic growth, as their buying power
jumped to more than one point seven trillion dollars in
the last ten years alone. The number of Latino business
(05:07):
owners has grown compared to just three for all others.
It's a momento, its momento, this is our moment. There's
no better example of the success of Latinox people than
(05:28):
Boulevard Market in l A Boulevard Market is a food
hall made of converted shipping containers. It's just east of
downtown Los Angeles and Manabello, the heart of l as
San Gabriel Valley. It opened in and it's so special
(05:48):
to me. It's a place where Latin X families come
every day to spend money on tackles, fresh Cevie chick
and melt in your mouth bush. But it's so much
more than food. There's life, music, art, culture, and most
importantly community. Thousands of people come here every month to
(06:15):
live their best life. It's a reminder of how far
We've come that we can have spaces that are built
by us and for us. You got Cafe Santo that's
from Wakaka. You have Vitos that are Salvadorian past Cantina
which is coastal Mexican. You have Nola, which is New
(06:37):
Orleans food. You have which is Mexican and Guatemalan. Tacos
there fused together. This is Barney Santos. He owns Boulevard Market.
He's giving us a tour of the place. You know,
as simple as this idea sounds, it's kind of It
was kind of a radical one when we started it right,
like to say like, okay, we're gonna build this hybrid
(06:57):
entrepreneurship social enterprise that lie is Latino owns that focuses
on black and brown founders. That creates a platform. Growing up,
we used to create our own spaces and parks, dirt
lots or swap meats wherever we could find it. Really
nothing was permanent. Everything felt fleeting. All of that is here,
living and breathing and eating tacos at Boulevard Market. Being
(07:22):
here feels like establishing permanent. Like now we own our
own spaces. It's a big deal. Barney's an entrepreneur, hustler,
and he got his entrepreneurial spirit from his parents, who
immigrated to the US from El Salvador. Like, just to
come to this country is entrepreneurial in itself right, and
(07:42):
then being in this country, like my mother and my
father both were always doing something some side hustle, selling perfume,
selling clothes. My dad would make bracelets and I would
go with him to Sign of Monica to sell them
to people. You know, So I learned about like sales
and entrepreneurship from them. I would and be who I
am if it wasn't for that entrepreneurial spirit that they had,
(08:03):
and for the opportunity that we were able to even
just be here in this country because of everything that
happened politically in the eighties. So my mother became a
citizen because of the amnestatment. Standing in Boulevard Market, when
I see all of this, I think of two unbelievable things.
The first one is that I own a small piece
(08:24):
of this me a first generation daughter of immigrants from Lynnwood,
from Southeast LA. I invested in this place, and wow,
it belongs to us. And the second thing I think
about is that none of this would be possible if
it weren't for Ronald Reagan. That's right, the guy who
(08:48):
is considered a god in conservative circles and a devil
in most of Latin America. This is why this is
so complicated. He created a type of poverty and the
war on drugs that devastate my community. But also in
six he signed a bill that would eventually grant amnesty
to three million undocumented people. That's three million people that
(09:13):
came out of the shadows and built the America we
are seeing today. We weren't supposed to come out of
the shadows, but we did. Out of the shadows. Will
be right back now, back to the show. So what
(09:41):
exactly is Irka? Eric? Can you break it down for us? Yeah,
for sure, because basically what I like to think of
as the street name for the Immigration Reform and Control
Act of six If you're wondering why congressional bill has
a street name, well, ship was monumental on the streets.
(10:05):
It's the first comprehensive immigration reform law of its kind
in US history. But Urka is like an M. C.
Scher painting. What you see when you look at it
may depend on your reality. On one hand, Ker gave
three million people, many of Latino dissent amnesty. That means
three million green cards, establishing a pathway to citizenship for
(10:27):
undocumented immigrants, a way to establish roots without the constant
fear of deportation. But there was one catch. You had
to prove that you were in the US before. But
Urka was an effort to curb the flow of immigration
by providing sanctions to employers who hired undocumented immigrants. It
(10:48):
was not that amnesty plus heavy fines and strict border
enforcement would stop the flow spoilers. No sanctions were issued,
the flow didn't stop, and enforcement has only gotten more punitive.
You see, America has his unchecked addiction to cheap labor.
Most of that comes from undocumented immigrants. Most of them
come from Mexico and Central America to pick and harvest
(11:11):
our produce, make our clothes, and clean the homes of
middle class and wealthy Americans. Despite how vital immigrant laborers
to our industries, agricultural ak, the food we garment, the
clothes you wear, domestic the people who landscape, clean and
build your houses, and raise and take care of your children.
That's not even mentioning the contributions to the economy. Despite
(11:33):
how vital immigrant labors to our industries, this country refuses
to recognize them as citizens, should even as residents. To
put it in a different way, the US needs the
cheap labor of immigrants, but won't allow them to be
part of this country. So Urica was supposed to be
a one time deal, the immigration reform to end all
immigration reform, but it wasn't that simple. On this podcast,
(11:58):
you're gonna hear from some of the people who they're
like Alan Simpson, one of the principal sponsors of IRKA
in the Senate, in let's not do a story for
the audience. Let's just do an honest story, and then
the audience will either pick it up or understand or
they won't, but we'll get into that later. Nonetheless, for
millions of undocumented sons, daughters, deals Primosa's parents, IRKA was
(12:23):
a chance, a shot of becoming American and stepping out
of the shadows. And two of those people where my parents.
And it all started with my mom and a wild,
terrifying chase to the Sonoran Desert. My name is Paula,
(12:47):
and I'm hearing that you say. For forty two years,
is you no one? And whatever you do? You remember?
Do you remember you arrived for the first time? Yeah?
I remember. The first time my mom came to this
(13:07):
country was in nine when she crossed the river. My
dad was already here working for a few years, and
my mom, who was sixteen at the time, came to
meet him. She came with nothing more than a backpack
full of clothes and dreams of becoming a mariachi singer.
Oh we crossed the river at night, uh, and the
(13:28):
water covers meet up to my shoulders. After she crossed,
my mom lived into who managed musicians. She take care
of my cousins on weekdays and sing mariachi on weekends.
It was like made me very happy to sing, you know,
(13:49):
in public with a mariachi. A few years later I
was born. She got a job in the gartment in
the street through a family friend. She liked to employers
and told them she was eighteen. I used to live,
party and bed in order to to be a better person,
you know, to have his skills, because in this country
(14:11):
it worked so hard to to find a job. You
don't have a good English, or you do speak English,
you know with my but English. But they gave me
the opportunity. My mom was trying to finish night school,
but then she got pregnant again and had my brother John,
the one from the photo. Around this time, my dad
(14:31):
got into an accident. He couldn't work, needed medical attention,
and was scared of being deported, so we all went
back to Mexico. After all that, crossing the river, dodging lamigra,
struggling with two kids in that country where they didn't
know the language, they just went back home. But my
(14:53):
parents were actually happy in Mexico. They bought a house.
My mom had dreams of starting her own business. Us
I was a toddler and John was just a baby.
But my mom had her parents there to help, something
she didn't have here in the States, so there was
no need to give up her dreams. There was no
need to stop her education or quit jobs for us.
(15:15):
You know, I was very happy because it was maybe
the mhm. The house are you know my my dreams?
You know, it was big. So this brings us back
to that photo I mentioned on the top of the show.
(15:35):
Life seemed good for my parents, and then I got
sick m hm. So the doctor told me, you need
to go back to what you say, because she's gonna
die here. So we we just took a bass to
(15:58):
t J to try to know to pass do you
say again? To Los Angeles once again. My mom decided
to sacrifice her life in Mexico, sacrifice her home, her
dreams for a better life for her kids, to literally
save my life. So in November, my dad, my mom,
(16:21):
my brother John, and I take a bus to Tijuana
to meet. We were told to meet at a house
in the desert and when we got there, it is
packed with people just like us who are all going
to cross. I remember there were a lot, a lot
(16:41):
of people in the house, you know, sleeping on on
the floor, and and me and my kids as well,
John and Patty. They had a big bend and they said,
we are going to cross the border and the band
so you you guys, so we are going all that way.
(17:04):
You know, we're going to dry you know that way
to Los Angeles. We're not going to stop. But my
mom had this plan. Since my brother and I are
natural born citizens, we don't need to cross through the
desert with them. I don't want you to to put
in a risk, you know, because I knew already the
(17:24):
first time. How dangerous it was. My dad calls his
cousin in Los Angeles to pick us up, but he
never shows up. So we call Saraho and he said, no, no,
I can't. He had a recent Probably, oh, he wasn't scared,
because at the time, you know a lot of people
who wasn't scared of everything. A stranger in the house,
(17:47):
here's what's going on, and offers to cross me and
my brother with our birth certificates. She promises my mom
she'd meet her on the other side, and my mom desperately,
in naively agrees to hand over her children to her. Yeah,
out of the shadows, will be right back now, back
(18:13):
to the show. My mom can't imagine her children crossing
the desert, but as she's walking away, something doesn't feel right.
Maybe God, oh I don't know, put in mind in
my mind and I say, oh, no, I cannot give
(18:33):
you my my kids. Imagine every time I remember that,
I could ask my my Patty and John if something happened.
Something is going to happen. But I want them by you,
by me, with me by my side. And here we are,
all four of us, And I remember this so vividly
(18:54):
when it was our turn. My family got in the van.
It was raining that night, and we're packed in this
white cargo van that was never made to drive through
the desert, packed just like Sardine's. The smell of fear, uncertainty,
and yes, even hope. It was permading throughout. As we
(19:19):
begin our track through the mountainous desert terrain, Our heads
and bodies bang against the cold, thin walls every time
the wheels drive over muddy potholes and slippery rocks. The
rain has transformed the ground into a swamp. Suddenly the
van stops. Everyone looks around as panic starts to sit in.
(19:40):
I can tell something's wrong. Okay, let's think about this.
I'm three years old. Because when kids are at that
age and they see stuff they don't they can't really
process what's going on, but they feel that something doesn't
feel right. Like I'm looking around and no one's really
assuring me that things are okay. We hear the driver's
being on the gas, the sound of the revving engine,
(20:03):
but we're not moving. The sound of rain hitting meadow
heightened the anxiety. My brother's diaper is soaked and he's crying.
Women are praying. My mother's praying. My dad and a
couple of other men are forced to get out and push.
I follow him, the rain falling heavy on all of us.
(20:26):
When we noticed one of the tires is very deep,
the spinning wheels flapping mud everywhere. Back in the car,
somebody screams lamiger, and I feel my entire body turning
against me. I'm only three years old, but I know
what that word means. How do they find us? Maybe
(20:50):
they sense the fear radiating from all of us, like
sharks drawn to blood. So men are pushing you think
their entire weight, so it being on the mud and
loosing their footing. The rain and prayers grow louder. This
is now or never, and one last push and the
(21:11):
rear left wheel is eventually free from the mud pit.
We only have seconds to jump back in. We are
being followed. One man aren't with herbs and prayers, tells
everyone to wear the herbs and pray. They'll protect us.
He says, but the roads are not kind to the
border patrol either. After we put a mile of distance
(21:34):
between them, we lose them. It was hard, I mean
for them, because probably they didn't want to ris themselves.
And uh and for a my leg or something. They
stopped following us, and after that everything was good to hear.
(21:56):
To this day, we will never know if the herbs
and prayers worked, but my mom seems to think it did.
It is because of my mom's courage that I'm even
here today telling her story. But that was just the
beginning of my mom's fight to be here. I think
back on that photo of my dad holding me and John.
(22:17):
My mom must have taken that, and I don't think
my parents knew back then that President Reagan had just
gotten a bill on his desk that would create a
path towards citizenship for millions of families like ours. We
were on the verge of coming out of the shadows.
But it wouldn't be easy. And just like that first
(22:38):
time when she held all her dreams slung over her
shoulders while crossing the Raging River, are shot at the
American dream would all hinge on documents in a backpack
she carried. When I asked my mom why she had
that backpack, she said, in the most innocent tone, I
just say, well, maybe just like to remember it. I
(23:00):
was here, but we weren't alone. It was amazing things.
The more I've learned about it since, like talking to
Patty about it back in the day, Like I was
just diving deep into it more and more talking to
my mom about it, getting her sort of like perspective
on it. The more I was like, Wow, this is
kind of like it was a serendipitous moment that happened
in time that kind of allowed a lot lot of
(23:22):
us to kind of build on, you know, that legacy
and to do amazing stuff here in the country. The
Immigration Reform and Control Act of would end up changing
the lives of countless of people in birth the circumstances
for a Latinos renaissance in this country, Latini that would
wind up shaping American culture, saving its aging economy, and
(23:43):
shifting the paradigm. And we're going to tell you how
and why it all happened this season and out of
the Shadows, we will explore the legacy of Urka through
the eyes of the folks who lived it. How one
(24:07):
bill is signed by the man responsible for devastating land
America also gave three million immigrants a piece of hope.
What did it take to pass the bill? And why
was Ronald Reagan the person to do it? This season
on out of the Shadows. Out of the Shadows is
(24:29):
written by Caesar Hernandez. It's also written, edited, hosted, an
executive produced by Patti Rodriguez and Eric Galindo. It's produced
by Bets Cardanaz, Karen Lopez and Gabby Watts. It's sound design,
mixed and mastered by Jesse nice Longer. Our studio engineer
is Clay Hillenburg. Karen Garcia That's Me is our announcer.
(24:54):
Out of the Shadows is the production of Seeing Me,
Other Productions and School of Humans in partnership with I
Hearts Michael Dura Podcast Network. The podcast is also executive
produced by Giselle Banzes, Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr and Chad Crowley.
Our marketing and our team is led by Jasmine Mehia.
(25:16):
Original music by a Arenas and if you loved his
cover of Los Caminos la vida this podcast theme song,
you can listen to it on all music platforms. Historical
audio for Out of the Shadows comes from the Reagan
Presidential Library and the National Archives. Special thanks to Ian Vargas,
(25:39):
Alex and Ali Caitlin, Betger gob Chabran, Daisy Church, Angel
Lopez Galindo Julianna Gamis, Ryan Gordon, Brian Matheson, Claudia Marty Corina,
Oscar Ramidrez, John Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez, Joshua Sandoval, Eric Sclar,
(26:03):
Tony Sorrentino, and Megan tan Or more podcasts, visit the
I Heart Radio app, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows
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