Immigration Interview

For this artifact I chose to interview a close friend of our family, Alberto Hernandez.
Alberto was born and raised in Penjamo, Guanajuato Mexico. In the year 1970 he immigrated to
the United States. When I asked him how he obtained his green card or visa, there was a moment
of hesitation. He said, I came to the United States without a green card.
He went on to explain that the laws for emigrating from Mexico to the United States were
very different in the seventies. To get a green card or visa you must have had a baby born in the
United States before the year 1974. Another option was to have had either a pregnant wife or
son. Alberto was a single man in 1970 with no children. At that time he felt he had no other
option than to enter the United States green cardless, as he put it. He continued on by saying
that after 1974 these laws were stopped, and changed in many ways. According to the new laws
your child, rather male or female, when they turned 21 could apply for you to get a green card.
Furthermore, if you were married and a United States citizen you could apply for a green card for
your spouse. He went on to say that as far as he knew these laws still remained in effect today.
Alberto also pointed out that obtaining a Social Security card after entering the United
States in 1970, with no green card, was pretty easy. Once a Social Security number had been
obtained, you were then considered to be a United States citizen. To do so you simply went to the
post office and showed them your birth certificate. It did not matter if you birth certificate
originated in another country. You then filled out a slip of paper with your information. If you
had any problems, they would help you. The process was free. Within about a week and a half to
two weeks you would get your Social Security number. Again this all changed after 1974. Then
you would need several pieces of identification including a green card, picture ID, and other
documentation.

Immigration Interview
I carried on the interview by asking Alberto about some of the challenges he faced when
immigrating? Due to the way that he came to the United States he felt that he faced many
challenges within his own country as we was attempting to cross the border. He stated that when
moving from Central Mexico to Baja California there was a lot of violence and crime. He
contributed this to a culture mix. Tremendous cultural diversity exists among Hispanic
Americans, such as the differences between Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans, among
generations, and among people living in different geographic locations in the United
States(P.165). He was seeing his country growing more impoverished, and violent. This is one
of the main reasons he gives for immigrating to the United States. When crossing the border he
feared the migra, or immigration police.
There was a great relief when he made it to Orange County, California. His brother had a
job set up for him. He began work immediately in landscaping. He remembered that it only paid
fifteen dollars a day. However, he was still able to send money home to his family. Alberto also
pointed out that he was the only Hispanic American working for his company. Most everyone
else was Japanese in origin. He said that on his first day of work he felt stereotyped due to his
size. Educators do learners a terrible injustice when educational decisions are based on such
stereotypes as the Hispanic Americans learner is not as well behaved as the Asian American
learner, is not as intelligent as the European American, or is not as docile or peaceful as the
American Indian learner (P. 165-166). He laughs and said, I only wore a size 27 pants back
then. It only took him one day to prove that he was a hard worker. He said, I ran circles around
most of those men. He said his boss later asked his brother if he had any other relatives that
were in need of a job. He would gladly hire them.

Immigration Interview
I then asked Alberto if his expectations of the United States had been met? He responded
be saying that the United States was better than he had expected. Alberto feels that he was never
subjected too much of the discrimination that other Hispanics were during the 1970s. He feels
that this may have been due to the town he lived in. He describes Orange County as a beautiful
place. It was not nearly as crowded then as it is now.
Alberto felt that the most difficult thing he faced when he came to the United States was
the language barrier. Undoubtedly, many of the problems Hispanic American learners
experience stem from their difficulties with English (P. 172). Spanish was Albertos first
language. In preparation for coming to the U.S. he educated himself about the English language.
He described watching American TV shows and listening to cassette tapes. He spent many hours
preparing. When it came time to come to the United States he felt as though he was ready. He
became quite shocked when he arrived. He was quick to realize that the dialect was far different
from what he learned. The American people use different contractions than what he expected.
It would take years for Alberto to fully adapt to the English Language. Today he is able to speak
English fluently.
Alberto and his wife now live here in Henderson. They have lived here since 1995. This
is the same year that Albertos wife became a U.S. citizen. She too emigrated here from Mexico.
They now have four children together. I asked them both, what are some of the most important
things that you instill in your children, in regards to Mexican culture and heritage? They started
out by saying that they teach their children to respect others, especially their elders. Generally
speaking, Hispanic American children and adolescents learn to show respect for authority, the
patriarchal family structure, and extended family members (P. 170). It is also important for their
children to be able to speak both the English and Spanish language. However, at this point their

Immigration Interview
oldest son is the only child able to speak both languages fluently. Their youngest son can neither
speak nor understand Spanish. Alberto is quick to point out that he wants his sons to be hard
workers. He feels that is will be their job to support their families someday. The Hernandezes
also want their children to be acquainted with the foods that are part of their heritage. Religion is
also very important to Alberto and his family. Religion plays a central role in the lives of
Hispanic Americans (P. 171). He and his family follow the Catholic religion. They try their best
to go to church every Sunday.
I really enjoyed doing this interview. While doing this interview I was able to learn a
great deal of new and interesting facts about the immigration process. I must admit that some of
the information that arose during the interview was quiet shocking. However, I feel that it dose
shine a light on yet another way that some come to live here in the United States.