Rider Profiles

Read about the riders from the Seattle Bus!

Minnesota Rider Profiles

Riders from the Las Vegas Bus

Asela

I am Asela, my story is that I crossed the border with my four children for a better life and a good education; well we crossed over the hill, with my children, we arrived in San Diego in the trunk of a taxi, we stayed in San Diego for 5 days and to get in San Clemente there were about 30 of us in a horse trailer; we arrived in California, there we spent another 5 days, we got to Bakersfield California, we worked in the fields harvesting vegetables and fruit. In 1988 we decided to come to Las Vegas in search for something better for our children and what we found was that on a certain day I decided to take my oldest daughter with me to work because I had nobody to watch her, and my surprise immigration showed up at work and they took away my daughter to deport her, she was just a child. It was something very hard for me, thank God we found a good person who helped us and they didn’t deport my daughter, but the problem didn’t end there because when she was in school she couldn’t continue her studies.

Anna

I am a strong black female with commitment, who has struggled her entire life. At birth I only weighed 2.5 pounds. That was my first struggle. I shed many tears because I am black (I am very proud to be black and female). Then through my life came that ugly word discrimination. For 14 years I was married to an Italian. The prejudice began when we bought a house in an all white neighborhood. I would go shopping and have to wait while the white went first. I was called the N. word and other choice things. This happened daily, so after a few years we moved to a mixed neighborhood. I came to Las Vegas in the 80’s looking for an apartment and didn’t get it because I’m black. The white man who was next got the apartment. I did not get a job at Denny’s because I’m black, so in 1986 I joined the union and got a job. Now in 2000 I still get treated differently because I’m black. My friends and I go out to eat, they get a refill. I have to ask for mine. I go shopping; the clerk follows me around, as if I will steal something. This is just a few of the things I face on a daily basis. I am a survivor.

Tony

As a Lead Shop Steward; I have the opportunity to represent many union members of differing back ground and nationalities it is both a honor and privilege to do so.
For in truth; the majority of us share more then jus a history of struggle to better ourselves through the labor movement. We share the common characteristic of being, ourselves immigrants the sons and daughters of immigrants, the grand children of immigrants and so forth unless you are a Native America; the majority of our families came to this country to better themselves and the lives of their family. The chance to achieve our dreams. America is truly the land of opportunity and I share this promise and dream with my fellow brothers and sisters in our union as I help lead them in our movement I share with them the story of my family being immigrants at the turn of the 20th Century.

They came to this country to escape economic hardship and oppression, America is the promise of freedom of oppression and the chance to make a better life, I tell my family some of the experience my family had in finding work and of speaking a foreign language, I tell them the story of my father only speaking German in the house until he has five years old, as related to mi by my grandmother. I share with them the experiences of my grandmother; who left home during the depression in this country, hoping to relieve some of the burden of his parents immigrants Lithuania farmers; with on less mouth to fed. He hopped the rails to Chicago and found work in a restaurant so he could save his money; because he did not have to pay for his meals. He was determinate to succeed by learning a trade and becoming better at his job. He succeed; I know this because I am the third generation Culinary Union member I am labor movement to better our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters, I am reminded of my family and their start in this country and in the simple truth; we are all immigrants.

Eliseo

I entered the United States in with an offer of a good job from the owner of a cleaning company, who was brother of one of my friend from Mexico. This job description was very simple; our job was to clean up an entire restaurant every single night until our schedules were set. That is when all of my problems began. The owner of the company never explained our job thoroughly we were working seven days a week, without any days off. We were entitled two days off a “year” (thanksgiving and Christmas). Working at the restaurant was suppose to help me get on my feet for a few months, but what ended up happening was we ended up living in the owner of the restaurants house. While living there we had a schedule for us to eat, shower. I lived with them for about 4 months, during that time I lost about 50 pounds, due to the lack of food and rest, what I mean is we got home after work in the morning too late for breakfast so we didn’t have any. During the day we would work on our chore, so sometimes we would miss lunch, and since we go to work at night we fall asleep of exhaustion and hunger they wouldn’t wake us up for dinner, this would be a daily normal routine.

Sometimes when we got to work the company’s manager would keep an eye on us, because he would expect that one of us would eat some food from the restaurant. On thanksgiving day, our first day off an a year, we did not have to work at the restaurant, but we still had a our chores to do, we had to clean the house because the owner had a family coming over for the holidays. The owner made us give up our room for his family and made up sleep out side in the back yard. At this time, I have gotten an ear infection, and I had a very high fever, I ask the manager for some medicine or something to recuperate but their response was “ It is not out fault that you are sick by then they gave me two options to go to work or get fired, this implies big complications, because I have bee working at the restaurant for 2 months and I have only received $ 67 dollars in total for those two months. This means I gave no money at all to move out.

One of the conditions was that if I don’t work for them I couldn’t live in their house, therefore I would end up living on the street. It seemed to me that they would do the same to anybody they would bring from Mexico, that was the way they made you work extra hard for them. Time had past and we had saved up some money and the Company’s owner’s brother, made us believe that he was going to help us to get our own place, so we moved out to the place he had found for us, but he had moved in with us. He had placed the lease and the utilities under his name, so we ended up were we started it was exactly the same deal then before. These memories are just the tip of the iceberg I have so much to tell about the things I’ve saw and things I’ve felt I would like to be able to let the world know about the suffering of the immigrants who came to this country just to be taken advantage of, form somebody when they are seeking the America Dream.

Leonara

My name is Leonara, I was born in a little barrio in the province of Cebes Philippines. When I was a little girl in my third grade, my teacher let us do a composition about “My ambition. I told my stories so many times in my school year that I want to be a nurse and go to America. If I don’t have money; they had a program fly now pay latter. I did not get to be a nurse but I met my husband in the Philippines while he was stationed in the Philippines a nice US Air Force and I fall in love and give me the chance to come to America. So in anyway I fulfill one of my dreams to come to America the land of opportunity.

When I was not a citizen yet I always had the problem every time I went in the Airport they harass you all the times. I came to America also I just gave up now they are getting too old. America is made up of immigrants and it should not be a problem reuniting your family and they should be with you. Until this day I am the only one residing here in America and my family still in the Philippines and hopefully the laws will change that for the future families of immigrants here in America should not be separated.

Aaron

I believe it’s the reasonable duty of every person to speak up against the racial injustice that people face in this great country, we have all herd of the oppression immigrants face and far to long have these images and cries fallen upon blind eyes and ears. How much longer can we ignore the injustice we witness against immigrant people in this country? Because we think it doesn’t affect us. But any injustice toward mankind of racial injustice to overcome were there is no room for a neutral point of view, it’s the duty of every person in this great country to work and build a better land for his or her self and to pass on to future generations, the pride and legacy of true freedom this means creating a better path to citizenship reunification of families, justice and fare wages on the job civil rights for all, and not oppression and injustice of immigrants workers. I have decided to become a part of this honorable opportunity of being freedom rider because I believe it will bring attention to the racial injustice that immigrants workers face in this country and by doing so hopefully we can blot out this evil and righteousness, so that we can heal and go forward been one of greatest country, God has ever blessed.

Miguel

As a child from immigrant parents, I know what it feels like to be seen as a second- class citizen in the United States. My parents were farm workers and they worked very hard to raise a great family. As immigrants, my parents were proud of their heritage and were involved in the Community to protect the rights of the Mexican immigrant farm workers.

Now I am 43 years old and I see many issues that my parents went through because they were immigrants from Mexico. I feel it is not fair that the immigrant community be treated with less respect than another citizen in the U.S. Immigrants are good law respected people who every working to raise their family and live the “American Dream” but as immigrants many times they are “ Political Victims” and are discriminated and are treated with less respect.

The immigrant community needs representation and laws that will allow them to enter America as millions of other immigrants are doing. Am dedicated to speak out on behalf of the many immigrants who only want to be legal and be respected as human and children of God.

Tino

WHY CAN’T WE ALL SEE THE OTHER SIDE?

Historically, The United States has been one Nation of Immigrants, a Nation that welcomes people from all over the world, people that are looking for a better life, a magnet for those who believe in themselves, willing to make a change. People who are trying to change their miserable destiny from where they are coming from, deceiving the unknown and willing to take on the challenges that may arise on their way here and even more once they are here in the United States. A position not every person out there has the courage to put him or herself or their love ones through. My family made many sacrifices and faced many challenges to come to the United Sates.

When I was 4 years old, my mother made the hardest decision in her life, to leave my father, taking her 9 children with her. We moved to Guadalajara to live with my grandmother. Some of my older sisters and brothers remember this time better than me - going to houses asking for food, going to the street looking for work at anything that could bring money home, going to empty lots looking for edible wild plants. A few years later, my mother left to find work in the USA. My older sister had to become the “mother” and my older brothers began working, under horrendous conditions. By the time I was 9 years old, I was working from 2-10 PM in a machine work shop - making things that were going to go to the USA and be sold cheap. By 13 years old, I was producing like any older worker - I just wanted to show that I was as good as any other grown up (this is how I ended up cutting my index left finger). I did not know how management was using me to ridicule the other older workers.

My mother worked in the USA for four years. After a few years, she was joined by my oldest brother who also was able to find work there. My mother worked picking fruit and vegetables and as a seamstress. She worked hard to send money back to us. When she returned to us in Guadalajara, she told us stories and of how much she had fallen in love with the USA. She saw a different way of life, how American kids were raised, how much food and things people had, and how much opportunity a women enjoyed. It was a great experience for her… one that she wanted all of us to have. Gradually, my mother sent some of my other sisters and brothers to join my oldest brother in East Los Angeles. When it was just my mother, a sister, my three younger brothers, and myself, we began our journey to have the whole family together. This was my mother’s ultimate goal - to see us all together in the United States. She was aware of the dangers of coming illegally to the USA. We tried everything -student visas, temporary tourist visas, using our house in Mexico as collateral - but were always turned down.

So, we decided we would have to cross the border. We took a bus to Tijuana and when we arrived there, and I noticed how worried people were, I began to realize that what we were about to do was very serious! My uncle kept telling me time and time again that I was the oldest man of the group and that I was the one that had to protect my family. We left at 8 PM when it was very dark - we crossed the chicken wire fence and walked towards the lights of San Diego, following the man who was our coyote. There must have been about 100 people crossing at the same time, separated into small groups. At times we had to hide, as INS officers patrolled and helicopters passed overhead.

I really felt the agony, the nervousness and desperation while we hid in the bushes and then ran across the road. Once we had crossed the border, there was still more as we had to wait in a house with almost 100 other people who had also crossed, and then cram the entire family into a car as we passed through the final check point. Finally though, we arrived in East Los Angeles where we would all be together again.

Laura

My name is Laura. I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and have lived in Nevada since 1981. After graduating with honors from the University of Buenos Aires School of Law, I came to this country for post-graduate studies in constitutional law. My interest was to learn as much as possible about civil rights and liberties, and eventually help my country, which in those years was under the control of one of the most violent military dictatorships in history. Ironically, about twenty years later, I find myself involved in this nation’s difficult struggle to protect its civil rights and liberties.

Two decades of work as a research attorney helped me understand the values and principles that have made this the great nation it is. At the same time I volunteered to assist local social services programs focusing on the needs of immigrant populations, which gave me the opportunity to understand the plight and the needs of immigrant workers on this land. That is why I am so proud and personally committed today to march on behalf of immigrant’s rights, as an immigrant and as representative of the ACLU of Nevada, and thus support the goals of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride. It is my commitment to help insure that the guarantees recognized under the Bill of Rights are available, as they should, to immigrants, whether documented or undocumented.

This is a critical time in history when all Americans must understand that the Constitution of the United States extends its fundamental guarantees to all persons on the land. These guarantees -due process, equal protection, privacy, freedom of religion, expression, freedom of association and to petition authorities, and to access to information, and the pursuit of happiness, belong to all, not just to citizens. We must honor and celebrate diversity, and the respect for everyone’s fundamental rights is where respect for diversity must start.

Emma

Emma immigrated to the USA from Chile after Coup d’etat of September 11, 1973, led by General Augusto Ponochet. She completed her college education and eventually earned a Ph. D. from University of California Davis.
She is the author or co-author of 17 books, including works of poetry, non-fiction photography, literacy criticism and textbooks for the teaching of Spanish.
Emma has worked for the last 28 years with the Chilean women’s movement (Arpelleristas) and for her work in defense of human rights she was awarded the Thorton Peace Prize in 1993. she worker as a consultant on the Peabody Award winning documentary “Threads of Hope” which detailed the lives of the Chilean Arpilleristas.

For her work on behalf of Latinos in USA she received the Latina Women of the Year Award in Literature from GEMS international television network in 1997. She was featured on the same network as one of the “ Mujeres Protagonistas/Women Protagonists” of the Hispanic World. In 1998, she was selected as one of the examples of Latino life in the USA in the “Americanos” project put together by actor
Edward James Olmos. In 2000, she received the Silver Pen Award given to distinguished writers in Nevada.

Emma is also an educator, and a community volunteers. She has been a board member for more than 25 organizations, among them Public Television, United Way, Habitat for Humanity, The National Conference for Christians & Jews, The Girls Scouts And the Nevada Museum of Art. She was also a member of the U.S. Senate Hispanic Task Force.

In 1995 she founded a non profit entity in Northern Nevada, Latinos for Political Education, and organization dedicated to the empowerment of the Latino community through voter registration, get out the vote campaigns and political education.

In 1994 Emma Sepúlveda was the first Latina to run for the State Senate in Nevada.
In 2003 she was awarded the AFL-CIAO “Friend of Nevada Families” and she received the University of Nevada, Reno, Foundation Professorship.

At the present time Emma is a Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, continues to write and is a columnist for the Reno Gazette Journal and Ahora Newspaper on Latino issues.

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for more information, contact the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride at [email protected]

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