Mexican DREAMers - Life after return
July 22, 2014 11:55 AM Subscribe
They grew up in America, were deported or returned to Mexico for other reasons and faced challenges and opportunities alike. A recently funded kickstarter for a book called "Los Otros Dreamers" tells the struggles and hopes of the other DREAMers. Nancy Landa, a deported honors graduate of California State University, who has lived in Tijuana and London since her deportation in 2009, is about to begin a research project collecting the experiences of voluntary and involuntary returns to Mexico after a long time in the U.S. To help in a country that is foreign to them the Mexican nonprofit Dream in Mexico supports young people who just arrived in Mexico. The German Der Spiegel interviewed three young deportees and how returning to Mexico after a lifetime in the U.S was both, a culture shock and an opportunity for a better life. [in German]
One of the people in the Der Spiegel interview works in a call center, exactly because of her language skills, like in Emanuel's story.
Translation:
"Adriana Cervantes, 24: "I wouldn't get a desk job in the U.S."
[...] Then she was deported to Mexico, left in the border town of Nogales, beaten up and robbed. The illegal border crossing back, she did not dare: The Mexican cartels nowadays target migrants as well, and she would once again be illegal and undocumented back in the states. "Even with a social security number I would have never had the chance to work in an office with air conditioning in the U.S."
Although she has a college degree with good grades, the only job she could get was a part-time job at a gas station. In Mexico City, Cervantes was able to quickly find a job in a call center, thanks to her bilingualism. She will move jobs soon and start at the call center for a big bank, where she'll earn about $900 a month, plus benefits, bonuses, free medication. For her, an absolute dream job."
posted by travelwithcats at 1:39 PM on July 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Translation:
"Adriana Cervantes, 24: "I wouldn't get a desk job in the U.S."
[...] Then she was deported to Mexico, left in the border town of Nogales, beaten up and robbed. The illegal border crossing back, she did not dare: The Mexican cartels nowadays target migrants as well, and she would once again be illegal and undocumented back in the states. "Even with a social security number I would have never had the chance to work in an office with air conditioning in the U.S."
Although she has a college degree with good grades, the only job she could get was a part-time job at a gas station. In Mexico City, Cervantes was able to quickly find a job in a call center, thanks to her bilingualism. She will move jobs soon and start at the call center for a big bank, where she'll earn about $900 a month, plus benefits, bonuses, free medication. For her, an absolute dream job."
posted by travelwithcats at 1:39 PM on July 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
More audio: Four recent deportees talk about their experiences and struggles. [8:22 minutes]
posted by travelwithcats at 9:04 PM on July 22, 2014
posted by travelwithcats at 9:04 PM on July 22, 2014
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posted by Emanuel at 12:56 PM on July 22, 2014 [6 favorites]