Resettling The West: Mexicans In Wyoming

Funding for this program was provided in part by the Wyoming Council for the Humanities and for members of Wyoming Public Television. A. Montana writer William Kitteridge wrote. A wave of newcomers is moving into the Rocky Mountain West. Popular mythology has it that we are overrun with tourists. Computer companies and good Thai restaurant switches of course not true unless you happen to be in

one of the famous resorts. These new settlers are refugees out of Mexico in Southeast Asia bringing the enormous energies of the dispossessed. The west is being resettled again by people seeking sanctuary and opportunity. Some Native Americans smile and shake their heads. Now they say. It's happening to you. We are looking for ways to work to have a better life for our children to give them a better education and food. Clothing.

I'm what many people have died crossing the border. It's very hard. You don't all have the same luck in reaching the Land of Hope. Oh wow. That was the reason that a lot of people want to come from Mexico to work. It's because the economy in Mexico is very hard. They get paid up to equivalent to $20 every two weeks. They cannot live on that. We've had a retreat of all the employees during the time the Americans if you will. We're coming up with different I wouldn't say grievances but a lot of things that they want need and higher pay and all these things and we went through all those and I identified them and then we sat with the Mexican workforce and it was. Really eye opening where all they really said is give us the tools for the job and we just want to do a great job where Mexicans are part of Wyoming history

a large chunk of southern Wyoming was a part of Mexico and killed the United States acquired it under the treaty Lupi in 1848. Wyoming cowboy is modeled on the Mexican sombreros making way for cowboy hat without Mexico. We might be called something other than the Cowboy State. Mexican sheep herders remain part of the Wyoming landscape. Truly a nice guy and he said to us. Don't be impressed. You can be. Just as good as white people. Maybe there's more of them are better than the gringos. The lure of being working with sheep. Was that you could aquire a bunch eventually homes did.

Gradually the white herders disappeared and you had to find something to replace them with. And I suppose in the last 15 or 20 years more and more Mexicans we relied on to help us get in. Monday of. My you keep on coming up here. My guess he calls from your roommate in my state from May until November. Two of my children have become American citizens to have not. Some immigrants started as sheep herders. But eventually settled into better jobs. Get them off the tree. Then I started to up she moved up forward a year and a half.

My father was about 14 I believe when he first came into Wyoming and he he heard she in this area along with his father. Then he later got a job with the railroad. Then he moved into town in the green over. They used to be houses there mainly shacks. None had running water. None had electricity. It was pretty much segregated. At that time. Migrant agricultural workers toiled in Wyoming for generations and do so to this day. Many have settled how the migrant stream and are proud farmers in their own right. Paul Rodriguez began as a migrant farm worker and became owner and operator of his own farm in the mid 1950s. After serving in the Korean war my grandfather came over from Mexico. My father was born someplace in Texas.

My mother had a real large family and many brothers and sisters yet anyway. They were the first migrant workers to come to. Power. They recruited a lot of other people but they were the first Margaret. Yeah I flunked second grade here because I couldn't speak. All I spoke English and Spanish and the kids used to laugh at me and make fun of me so I decided my kids up I want to learn English before you learn Spanish. Robust U.S. economy and crushing poverty in rural Mexico have sparked a new wave of immigration from Mexico to the United States. The 2000 census shows that there are 35 million Hispanics in the United States a 58 percent increase since 1990. Changes in federal immigration law in 1986 resulted in big changes in the pattern of Mexican migration. More than 2 million of undocumented migrants.

Have. Documents. Now there is a big process of legalization. They are coming here for three six months and going down. And that's the tradition of migration from Mexico and the United States. The These are temporary migration. Very important change is that. When women get to stay in one place but you have documents if you have papers you can move anyway to every place. With or without legal papers. Mexican workers are filling the difficult dirty jobs in the Rocky Mountain West. On labor crews and in the fields. What's interesting that's the state is one of the slowest growing. In the West. And what we're finding is that the growth. In the state is not of the white population but other populations of minority populations. And what we're

seeing is that there's kind of. A migration outward of. The educated. And those in school cause issues. And in migration of people. Not necessarily are unskilled but don't have the technical. Abilities. For the new technology. Mainly because of immigration from Mexico. The Hispanic population in Wyoming has grown 23 percent in the past 10 years. And members nearly 32000 today of. The growing Mexican presence in Wyoming brings with it the expected abundance of Mexican restaurants and specialty stores. Even a tortilla factory in Cheyenne. Small businesses sprout up to satisfy the shopping and commercial needs of Mexican families including services for sending money to Mexico. Mexican food is always welcome but there are signs that in many Wyoming

towns the reaction to Mexicans ranges from neglect. To hostility. Codie residents learned recently that a company was about to recruit large numbers of Mexicans to work in local motels and restaurants angry callers jammed a popular local radio talk show in the country. Good morning making me think about trading Jack. A big question that we're going to take to wash my hands. They're gone I guess they're going to have to come back and get my money. I don't know that they need to pay wages and they need to take a good job.

There's a lot of women in the workforce that they just do what they can. Yeah yeah yeah I like one. I mean you know everything came from Canada or Australia. I'm wondering if this really would be a bad idea to get out if it is a problem let's put it out letters flooded the local newspaper predicting dire consequences for the community.

Should Mexican workers come to town the information given to us was that this year there was 20 original workers from Mexico. There are two different employers that these workers are working for. Currently one is supre motel and the second one is granny's restaurant. As a result of the backlash. Only a small number of Mexican workers actually came to Codi. Torrington has a sizable Mexican-American population and some recent immigration from Mexico. A disciplinary incident involving a Spanish speaking school child prompted the local school board to restrict the speaking of Spanish in and around district school buildings. In April of 99. My son was a fourth grader at elementary and there was another student who wanted to sit in his desk. And. She attempted to kick him out of his desk and he refused and he

said let us move on. And. Meaning you are not my boss. And she went and reported to the teacher that he said something in spanish and she thought it was something bad. My son was taken aside and told that he could no longer speak Spanish in school. The board adopted the policy on July of 2000. Having attended the policy was to say that the district values and respects diverse languages and cultures and would not prohibit restrict your censor speaking of languages other than Grace. When it was said that if when there is a legitimate and documented educational justification if for example a school system rejects the mother tongue of an entire group of children. Then I think that sends a very negative message and how can have a very adverse effect on the child languages and to really tied to self-esteem.

And so if the language is degraded in any way it negatively impacts on the self-esteem of a child it's difficult for me to understand why they would do something like that because speaking Spanish is a part of who my son is. He's been raised in two languages spoken. They policy came under a lot of discussion and questioning. As a result of that the board has rescinded the policy. And is back to working with the complainant and the Office of Civil Rights to resolve the complaint. The Torrington's school board effort to discourage foreign language use wasn't the first such effort in Wyoming. Several state legislators in the mid 1980s pushed for an English only policy in the state when someone introduced a bill that English was the language and there would be no other language spoken. I thought that wow is that closed minded. I mean is that ridiculous because you know why would you want to do that. Of course I looked at that legislation as being as ridiculous as it

was and it didn't get anywhere. Harrington's school board policy was only the most recent in a century of discriminatory policies and practices against Mexicans and Mexican-Americans restrictive housing covenants remain on the books and Torrington's subdivisions though federal civil rights laws make them unenforceable and Mexicans attended their own school until 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregated public education. I lived in South Torrington and it was mostly Mexican people that lived there when I was six years old. I went to. The Mexican school or whatever they call it but there was nothing but. Mexican kids that went there. Well there has always been discrimination here in Clinton when I couldn't go to the swimming pools and even in the theater they had. The. The. Left side all of the Mexican kids sat on that

side. And. The white people sat on the right side. This is a very racist community. And. For those of us who have grown up here. The difficulties we've had it must be that much more difficult for those who are recent you know to our town. Nothing is offered for them as far as there are no signs that can help them. You know it's all it's all English. The library offers no literature nothing at all. When I went into the shoe repair store here in town. I was the owner of this store approached me. And he threw a card on the countertop and he said put your Martina's on this. And I said excuse me what do you mean by that. And he said Aren't all you people need Martinez. All of you people look alike to me. Though Mexicans have lived in Torrington for 100 years. They are

newcomers to Jackson. Their numbers have zoomed for near zero in 1990 to more than eleven hundred today. They are part of a new pattern of migration from central Mexico to resort communities in the western United States. Jackson is a good example of this movement. The decent news sector of the economy is said to be sector. And Jackson is a bigger S.R. and you'll need many many workers but the workers in the low level the only people who can do these work for these salary. Now in America the miners and they came from Mexico or Central America. They want to do the extra mile to have the companies happy. And if it takes a little more cleaning they're very happy to do that. They have worked their country more harder than here.

Here at Spring Creek Ranch. We have. Proximately we varied between 20 and 80 Mexican workers. In the beginning of the day when everyone arrives. We have our supervisors will get everyone together and we break up into groups so they'll give them their assignments and then heading out to the different areas where they're going to work and that will be throughout the resort it will be in our housekeeping departments doing cleaning of the rooms in general janitorial duties. They will also in our maintenance areas do everything from landscaping they'll be mowing lawns. They will be stacking the wood and all the fireplaces we have here cleaning the hot tubs and pools and watching our pond feeding our ducks that are here. It's it's just a great experience having a whole new culture. Become part of Spring Creek Ranch. Privilege to work with them.

Here in Jackson. Eighty five percent of the Hispanic community is from La Scala Centennial an hour and half two hours east of Mexico City and they are the dorkus here. My son was the first Mexican to Jackson Elementary School. Where were you 91. For. I would just. Like to hear him. Fool me. Once. I start singing like a little bit more in the 92 93 94 percent of the numbers kept crying that that the first our people were migrating to northern California then in New Mexico and in 1968 they began going illegally to Idaho. Now it's more to Wyoming. And we hear a Mexican community sprung up there. I hear there are easily a thousand Mexicans there and that in their church you can

find the same sense we have in our church and since they are presence abandon their fields in search of a better life for their families. Those who need those. I came thinking I could do music but I work in a restaurant. We get together and play music and we have time on Sundays. So if we house he went away and done he went away at five in the morning. I felt very sad. I told him goodbye and came back home feeling very sad for my son had gone. Missing not only finished primary school and he stayed and worked with his dad while the others all went to Mexico City. My husband was born. Last year there was none. Life here is difficult very difficult.

On Tuesday when he died on the way before coming to Jackson I worked in Driggs Idaho working the potato fields. There are a lot of Mexicans sowing arrogating cranial Broks. Is me me me. It's my goal to return to Mexico to be with my parents and brothers and sisters. But I would like to build a home for my family. But we have a long way to go to complete it because almost all of them leave in order to clear a lot of people leave for a lot of different places. Like many Mexican immigrants well understand they found cheaper housing in Driggs Idaho and like most families they balance working and caring for their two children Wells brother and sister in law live in the same trailer court. Two families help each other with child care and carpooling daily across Teton Pass to work at the ampler in Jackson. In addition to

Wells other full time job. I was there by the post. We came for a better life for the children with the family. And until we found the antlered motel with in law. She's a very good person and we've been there two years. They are very good people and we are happy working there. Was. The idea. And. Then. We work 40 hours a week and then I work another job. And work an average of 70 hours a week. It costs more than $100 every two weeks to commute. Clarion gives us money for travel expenses. What do you see in the middle. Also.

I was born incensing me on in Tuscaloosa in a town southeast of Mexico City. My parents still live there. I've been here for nine years with this man. He would tell me. The Trini says you left. I haven't stop waiting for you. We love you so much. No matter how far away you are your room is here and I'm keeping it nice for you. All that up was one of my children to be professionals. Better than me better than my parents. Whenever possible I send money to my parents. It's an obligation isn't it. Life is very hard but my parents do own their own home. It is very sad when you think you have nine children

and to end up alone. I miss my children a lot. He wants to do the best she can for her children. She wants to move ahead. Life is very hard here. The chronic worker shortage at St. John's hospital in Jackson has been partially eased by hiring immigrants from floc Skala and other parts of Mexico. Some such as soul have moved up from housekeeping to better paying jobs such as sterile processing. There are now more than 30 foreign born Latinos working at St. John's. We know that that number will continue to increase. We get our good conscientious reliable employees from that category and we want to give them every opportunity to succeed. Originally with limited speaking skills we really only had two positions available and that would be to work in the laundry for the work and dishwashing area.

As their skills increase as far as English understanding of procedures then making making go into other advanced positions in the hospital. We have bilingual employees in that building and the nursing staff and living center. So there's lots of opportunities for her and then this and her family who live in grigs and commute across Teton Pass St. Johns provides a good share of the family income for us. Bingo. Yes. I come here four days a week. I leave home at 4:30 in the morning taking care as I try not to run into the animals on the road. When. I go to school Monday through Friday Saturday and Sunday. I work at the hospital for eight or nine hours. I do it for us because I am a dishwasher in the kitchen. And

sometimes I'm prepping and sometimes I work in the cafeteria. And St. John's was prom. I work in the dietary room stuff and sometimes they switch me all around. I don't work Saturday and Sunday. Because. That's. The only time I have. Because. During. The week. Most get busy and bored with school and activities. For. I know that. In. The past you. Know. It was like good place to. Start. So I had to stick out my day. Down the road. About 10 or 20 miles. It was pretty harsh. How many people in Mexico the wife never

works anywhere but in the house cleaning the house looking for her husband who works in the fields. Here I work in the hospital and go home clean house and cook. But these are things one does. As she turns 15. Yeoh looks forward to her kids again. A milestone for Mexican girls. She rededicated herself to the Catholic Church and her family throws a huge party. Did you ever wonder if we were just Pakistan. I was with my escorts. Now this man the lady we're teaching must have a douche bag. I think they can say it is like my parents are giving me to go places with my friends.

I moved like a girl until I'd made it. Now it's important it's important they await this day from child. Especially to my mom. It's important. It's father has left paralysed. Till then their daughter. Wonderful. Not all Mexicans and Jackson have come to Wyoming directly from Mexico. And Garcia was born in flux but grew up in Mexico City. They both. Grew weary of the pollution congestion and contamination of Mexico City and decided to join a group of migrant agriculture

workers headed for Rexburg Idaho. In 1994 he learned that he could do a lot better in Jackson and decided to look for work there and get a job. The first the first day we get to go get a job. Actually two places to work for him and so on and I didn't decide to move. I mean I decide to stay here because he's not who doesn't want that to be back and forth from Idaho to here for us to get ideas. I came here to tell my husband we had an opportunity in life. Is there any way I'm working. My first job was happy then and now I work at Maverick. Is there any place we came to make and we appreciate the support we've received want to swap for us why you spent with us.

I used to I used to make hamburgers and little by little I start being a supervisor and day and become the assistant manager and then the manager. Now for the for the reason to stay up the exit poll in the same time I work for the gas station. You live more of this in here. Dun dun dun down there. The kind of life is been tough here almost nobody has said. It wasn't a dryer or two cars so some lady died down there in Mexico with your money that you went to and you need to choose what you what do you want to I mean what are you going to do with that money. You wife with four of the kids. Ought to buy them shoes or what. You. You chose the food. So right here I mean up here I mean this is just this way different Mexico City in 1970 I went to school for nine years.

And after that I got out of school. I joined the Army. And Mexican army. Antonio's journey from Mexico to Wyoming included a stint in Southern California where he had gone with a group of friends. It was totally different where they were picture me at that point. So I went with these guys. They were using drugs and drinking and things like that. Antonio went to work for a drug dealer who had stores both in Los Angeles and Jackson. One day his boss asked Antonio to take a position in Jackson. I can tell you just see that down if I like it I will stay there and he's like OK. So I came here for a week and after that I like the town that was very quiet it's a nice place to raise kids back and talk to me and say yeah. So we came here and then the next four years and I was born. Antonio soon wanted more challenge and responsibility. He decided to approach the

owner of a linen and dry cleaning service. He offered me to be a dry cleaner. And I told him you know I didn't know anything about it. And he's like OK don't worry. Thank you. I'm the kind of person that I don't like to be stuck with. One thing. I love men I love to talk to people. So I was doing the cleaning in six seven months he was boring for me. I just told these guys you know what did you will you give me anything now. I will quit because I didn't see anything that's for me. I don't want to just come every day and do the same thing every day for years and years. Antonia worked his way up to assistant manager. The post he has held for the past two years which is just how all the people that. I deal with customers every day they help them. And that's basically

what I've been doing for two years. All. Right. Try it out Saturday and Sunday off. But now I'm working on getting my house Saturday and trying to find a job like finding. That. I might on the day off. We'd like to take on the outside showcase outside. How is life out there. I know when time I take care Askey for a ski week whiskey we go and then we go fishing and take her to the park Moby's. Now that we have these childhood histories in the library we take it out there so she can see and she can see different things were made there would someone for kids everywhere we go. We can. Not go anywhere without. The reception of Mexicans and Jackson is proof of what a community can accomplish through

good will. And a generous infusion of. Private money. So it's very new and it's a shock also for the community in Jackson to have so many Hispanics coming here ten years ago we had very few. Hispanic Spanish speaking members of the community. If they were here. They were here. I I and many other members of the community didn't see it. Jackson home is not the same. But race relations were not always smooth in Jackson. There were fights in the school ground at the elementary school grounds. He told Hispanic kids and American kids that were of concern to us. And there were nasty letters in the paper. About housing issues that were of concern to us. I. Think this is more. And more true. There's a lot of racism here. I encountered it working you know. Oh that's part of the reason why I love the is with the American dream it's not the Europeans.

You know they would open. Up the community up here and change your skin color. I don't understand why people behave that way. All I want to see is a Mexican. We're just human beings. If they don't like others it's because they don't like them. At one point several schoolchildren in Jackson even presented a petition to their school asking that Mexicans be banished from the schools. The petitions. To remove. The Mexican children. It was a matter of education from this state. They did deal with it in the fact that some of the American kids stood up for them and said hey you know they just have to learn. And you know we're all learning together and this isn't right. Karen Stewart at the artist and myself had the idea that we would try to use the arts to ease the strains of immigration.

So we from the seed of that idea began to do the Hispanic cultural festival. It could be through food through art. Through music. And that started us getting the community accepting a little bit more. I. Do. Love parties we love food we love to share things. So that was one of the things that we try to do sharing. Going through parties through entertainment and also cultural things so that they could be proud of the South. Siecle de Mayo commemorates the 1862 battle of wedlock. When

Mexicans beat back French invaded the annual celebration in Jackson raises money for Petone literacy where Mexicans and other non-English speakers can get special help in learning English. So what we try to do is help Jackson Hole become knowledgeable about Hispanic culture especially Mexican culture and to appreciate its richness and its diversity with my iPhone. What is it. I think we Mexicans have the best way and we'll have it until the day we die of showing what we are. And we show it as much through our work as through our culture. We in

Mexico are fortunate to have a rich amalgam of cultural roots which makes us unbelievably rich in that culture is right there wherever you look. Many community organizations started to respond to our dramatic increase in immigrants in very positive ways. The Catholic Church is one of many groups that received grants from the Jackson Hole community foundation to provide services to the Hispanic population. We are trying to provide a resource center for the family as if they had needs they could come to us. We'd figure out if we could help them or if there is another nonprofit here in the community in existence where we could refer them. We have a Spanish mass here on Sunday evenings and that brings about 125 150 new members of the parish during May.

We did have the first communion for some of our Spanish children and making calls for those of us from Mexico. We thought cism is our dominant religion. So we have a number of steps baptism confirmation first communion. You must do. It almost every minute of what we are doing tonight. I'm just praying for the first lady and London. I'm preparing a large piece of the salad bowl slowly of course and tostada see. If sleep is on the cover of the Beatles.

What we're expecting about 100 guests perhaps more or less. It's a party isn't a band. It's a very timely thing for their children just as it would be for my three daughters going through the same time. The father son daughter a Mexican priest who has parishes both in San Simeon and Lipan recently decided to check on his far north and parishioners. He traveled to Jackson with another priest.

Suddenly father Zamora and father Francisco showed up at the rectory doorstep and they were here to just check on their on their people how well they're being treated. A Someone who was attending to their needs. It was a wonderful time here again to priest that that spoke little if any English. They know the people the people here in Jackson grew up in their parishes. They baptized they took comfort through first communion was gone. Yes. So that is he would tell you they are looking for a better life for their families. They return and improve their homes in some ways. There were many that most do not have family unity is maintained to some extent by the majority return each year. There are very few that stay there every turn. Let may go back and forth.

The ancient church bell in San Simeon recently developed a crack. Thanks to contributions from Mexicans living in Japson local parish was able to raise the thousand dollars needed to hire a recruiter to. Smash it to pieces recast it and hoist the new casting into the church steeple. Other Teton County organizations both private and public receive money from the Jackson Hole Community Foundation. The library went through a planning process and is committed to providing as our top priority. Information and Communication So the Hispanic community including Spanish language collection. By the Teton County Public Library also provides story hour in Spanish to

Saturday mornings each month. From time to time residents perform short plays for adults and children to the delight of English speakers as well as Spanish speakers. Jackson now has a three hour Spanish language broadcast on Sunday night. Good news. My God he doesn't get I'm OK. So. The program was hard to get started. The first days took a great deal of work. We have become more professional over time. We love reaching out to people from many countries not just Mexico. One local newspaper even allocate space for a Spanish language columnist

who writes each week about topics of interest to the Mexican community. A soccer league that sprang up several years ago has become a major social institution for Mexican families living in Jackson and Idaho. The people are working a lot so. We don't have Mexican Baso sounding like dive on a big seat as they had. Doing For son. So Jackson said the Lakers are. And when they were here almost four years ago and with that make them more professional all. Right. We had a lie. Then things cognac town and 14:4 on Idaho. And now there they are down around Old Mexico in America. They play soccer like

they eat so. They suck out of the BEEN SO they make so good that we want to. Develop the leadership within the Hispanic community that they can carry on and recognize and help each other. Meet those challenges. I started this as a translation services and I. Called the translations. Plus I think the plus now it's taking over the translation because maybe they do come here for any kind of information. Due to the fact that I've been working in the court system also. But I've been a translator and the district court and the municipal court they know that I am a little bit related to the legal problem. If they need a lawyer for certain things and it could be anything for like for example sometimes they come they want me to marry them or

get a doctor for the kids you know. It's just you don't know how many different things they come for. One of the things that we go through also is sending money to their family. I mean Mexico mostly this is one of the cheapest ways to do it for them. Michael. Jackson has set the pace in Wyoming for community response to the needs of Mexican workers. But no matter how positive and helpful the community reception. Immigrants throughout Wyoming still face daily challenges and frustrations homesickness is compounded by the need to tackle a new language and culture. Churches with Spanish speaking clergy sometimes offer the needed combination of social and pastoral work. Were you approaching him the Dave Camp compassing. And Thorson's I come from person. I can therefore

understand what is needed when people move from Mexico to here. I deal with people who have problems. Some have no work. Some have been sick because they lack food clothing and medicine. Others bring along their drug and alcohol addictions. Only in Jackson Evanston and Sheyenne do Catholic churches offer Spanish mass on a weekly basis to other churches offer some readings in Spanish. No no I mean there are no mass in Spanish. I believe that all of us would like Spanish. The only one we have for December the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. At St. Rose of Lima our Catholic parish. No Spanish readings or any literature was was a part of.

Us. And the new priest that we have attempted. To you know add that to our masses. Several people who wanted this to stop because they said they did not want the Spanish language in their church. And so if you want to hear anything in Spanish you can you can go. Why. Not. I'm OK here but sometimes I get homesick because I wish I could sit and chat with my mother for a while. So my mom.

Gabriela cleans offices and laboratories at a fertilizer plant in Rock Springs. She earns in one hour about what she earned in one day and a monkey like Dora or low wage sweatshop in Chihuahua. She counts on local family members for child care and other mutual help. Because you see him play. I have two brothers in law here. We visit back especially with the one who is married. My sister in law takes care of my daughter when I go to work. And for my daughter's birthday they helped us with. The. Inability to speak English is cited by many immigrants as a source of

embarrassment. Job difficulty and increased loneliness when CM. The fact is I always tried to find someone to go with me to interpret. I don't dare go anywhere all alone. When she first came to Rock Springs Gabriella attended English classes at Western while being Community College. But now she says it is hard to find time. Gabriella is not alone in her balancing act. The embattled family in Cheyenne finds that using video courses at home is the best way for the parents to squeeze in the English lesson. The problem is growing up that all. We try to learn English. Our work is very hard. After a half hour in class you just fall asleep.

There's no point in going to the classes. Bought a tape course English with our parents and we tried to spend time listening to one big. One. One day J hand in Rock Springs recently hired a mechanic from Mexico City. The two decided to solve their communication problem by and rolling around in adult classes at western Wyoming community college students are night students. Everybody say his name. I couldn't get them. Believe me. The problem we have is understanding the Germans so we decided to take classes. He's

going to learn Spanish and I'm going to learn English so we can communicate with people who worked hard. We. Have a lot of trouble communicating but I keep a big stick so he can understand me. No he's a good guy mechanic loose Maria cleans homes and offices and Rock Springs has lived in Wyoming for nearly nine years and still does not speak much English. She is now a regular student in the adult basic English classes at Western. This is leading as a young Let me see. I decided to study English because I can understand what my children are saying and I need to take care of business matters and so forth. I like things I have.

Been looking for. When I go do this. What happened is that I never thought I would spend so much time here in the United States. It's a real worry for me now because I can't understand my children with my husband. They speak only in English while with me. They have to speak Spanish. For a loose muddiest husband Jose who works in a field north of Rock Springs. Learning English is crucial for safety and performance. I have to make sure. The guy is in a box. No keep the pipe and stay with him. But the thing is leave open the hall to get the work. Around and pause and make sure it is safe. Check. Accurate communication is obviously a top priority in a hospital.

We want them to be able to have enough English to communicate their verbal announcements in the hospital that are in English only and so that still is a requirement. As far as safety in the hospital and the accreditation visits that we had in the fall we had an Hispanic employee who was a dishwasher and we wanted her to participate in the interview process on understanding procedures and we asked her if the chemical process should be with hot or cold water. First we said hot water and she said see. And then we asked if the process worked with cold water and she said see. And everybody looked at everybody and realized that we still had language barriers as both answers could not be yes. No.

Fear of deportation is a burden for many families in which one or more members are here illegally. Nora an agricultural worker in Pine bluffs who has lived 10 years in Wyoming found life very hard after her husband was deported. My mom never I felt very sad. I miss him. My son cries a lot and he's falling behind in school. He's depressed and he asks every day for his father. In August of 1996 Federal Immigration and Naturalization Service agents swooped into Jackson looking for illegal workers. They gathered up anyone who look Mexican transporting some in person some 150 were deported to Mexico. But. Most workers were

back in JACKSON Within a week. It was after the 1996 raid that a Labor recruiting office opened in brig's Idaho. Streamlining paperwork to bring hundreds of Mexican workers into Jackson on temporary work permits. Bringing in Mexicans to do the hard work is nothing new for Wyoming employers. I have the honor to inform you that I have employed an agent to proceed to Taos New Mexico for the purpose of hiring ten or twelve Mexicans to carry on the farming operations at this post and also for herding or any other labor. The Mexicans can be engaged for a year work cheaper and are much better than any other people for the use that I wish to make of them. Assistant quartermaster Venditte July 23rd 1850 is still a release and Laurie McKuen recruit workers from

Mexico. Laurie started her company here three years ago. Helping one person like I said. It was a friend of hers and he was in a situation where he was illegal of course. These are temporary work visas. They are provided by the Department of Labor and it. And these these visas can only be used for up to 10 months. There is the winter season in this region which is December through April. And that's a four month visa. And we also do the summer visa which is from April to October or November and it has been working great for the people and for the companies. The reason the the role of our process is that employers just can't order workers he's got to be able to prove that there is a need for an alien workforce. And our role is to get a job and there's not really to assist him. I would say it's more to just to show what their local workforce is like. And proving that he needs willing

workers. We go to Mexico once or twice a year for the recording part. We go through a certain stage. And the reason is because most people here in this region have family members down there that are waiting for us to go down there to apply. We kind of give orientation on what the work week is about and how they come up here and work over the seasons. Now we have over 500. Employees coming to work up here in Jackson another labor recruiter based in way of Lipan signs up Mexican workers to go to Wyoming and other places. He works through West Seattle company which does the paperwork with U.S. immigration officials. Cobra means that company collects one thousand fifty dollars. Fifty dollars for the paperwork and a thousand dollars for the visas and work permits.

But dozens of workers who relied on road less lost everything they owned. When the Seattle company failed to procure the visas in time for seasonal jobs and kept the money. The Mexicans who face criminal charges are most likely to be deported. Crossing into the United States from Mexico has become increasingly dangerous and difficult. But the immigration and naturalization service estimates that up to 300000 Mexicans still complete the crossing. Each year. Saturday is. Entering the United States illegally. It's very difficult. It took us two days to get across. We had to walk for 12 hours. We had to drink dirty water. We had nothing to eat. We were taking care of the children. I won't repeat that experience.

It's better that they stay there and not come here illegally because they could die on the way. We came illegally. Many things happened to us on the way. We lacked food and water and could have died. Some look back with nostalgia and humor on their decision to come illegally to the United States. My father was happy with me because I dropped out of school. And he told me fine we're going to be. My maid. He was white. First I was born and I was something Nina got tired of making beds in Jackson and Assmann. She enrolled at western Wyoming community college got a GED and became an officer at the Rock Springs Police Department. I say I. Know to but. I feel the evil and

then I took a taxi in Texas in the next day. I took the plane to fly into. No American sees. I had a lot of. Beautiful experience and even bad experience. But it isn't fast. And that's why I feel like to help the older people are people who are flying and will tell me if I'm on the. Prowl shows a sort of fatalism about his illegal status and the daily risk of deportation to Mexico. I'm not afraid because I miss my family a lot. If they come for me and take me away that's life. Access to health care and social services is another big problem for many Mexicans living in Wyoming. Hispanics suffer disproportionately

from heart disease diabetes and other ailments. If I could teach one thing to. Whatever profession it is that you work with people is to have patience with that student or that family in the use of interpreters. It does take time so that the interpreter can speak to the family in an. Appropriately interpret many immigrant families like health insurance some like the embeddable family in Cheyenne are insured for their own illness but not for their children. If I paid their insurance it would take half my check which is very small to begin with. So if they get sick we take them to the hospital. It's very expensive. Nora got prenatal and infant care for her baby daughter but she is still paying medical bills first serious burns her 11 year old son suffered years ago.

Well and for. I'm a loner. We pay six dollars an hour and have no health benefits with the agriculture people. There are no benefits. Even when we introduce everybody to groups kind of go through a screening anyway just so we Wyoming's social service professionals are facing new challenges in working across language and cultural barriers. Mexican immigrants themselves are often the link between the two communities and the learning center is a place where children with learning disabilities are speech impairment. I have recently gone there to help them with the Hispanic population. If you have a kid with learning disability going through a school it will be very hard for him to learn a second language if they're having trouble doing their own.

And so that's why I think it's very important. Let me also works with Mexican families whose children are born with disabilities practical pointers and information in their own tongue and are a big help to families handling adversity domestic violence in the Mexican community is a serious problem and often puts women in a precarious situation. For Mexican woman to. Creep port. Domestic violence. It could be difficult because. If they decide to call. They. Them. Then. How are they going to help me. How. Are these guys going to be monitored. And this is really hard for them it's scary to come. So most of these things are never said. Because they are

very afraid not only to expose a husband but they know the consequences because. They know that if they are not legal here they can be deported. And this person would be the only one that supports that family. The only income that they have. Educating children with little or no English is expensive and challenging and has had a huge impact on schools in Jackson. Ironically the cost of living in Jackson for once has benefited the school district since many Mexican families cannot afford to live in Jackson. They live in the Idaho communities on the other side of Teton Pass. Primary schools in Victor and brig's Idaho are now 20 to 50 percent Hispanic and it is Idaho that bears the added cost of educating the children of Jackson workers with limited or no English. The Hispanics became. Important to Jackson first. As service people. For the restaurants and for the

hotels. And so. Now most of our Hispanic population especially the ones that live in drugs. Work in Jackson. And it's a challenge for us because we have to teach them English and then. We have to teach them to read and write. Everybody just jumped on the bandwagon and I said I've got a problem. I have. You know all these non-English speakers. I just don't know what to do. And so we sat down and we brainstormed and we hired an old. Teacher. She is only an aide. So she's been wonderful because. She's also her philosophy is that if you're going to be in our country them they need to learn about our culture. And learn about how we do things and they need to be a part of us. The schools are great. I think they are great. They are the best. And of course down in Mexico we don't have we don't have the kind of schools that we

have right here. My daughter is doing great. The card report that we received. They say a lot about my daughter. Most of the teachers say that she's great. That's actually I think we need to keep going with here she is. She's doing great. I am very satisfied with school not that everything is perfect. One of my children has a learning disability. The teachers such as Mrs. galleries help them out a lot. We don't have this sort of extra help in Mexico for our children. The confidence has grown. So let's move on. Sometimes we have conferences with the teachers about the children's school work how they're doing how they're behaving. The teachers treat me very well.

In Cheyenne where there are large numbers of immigrant children entering school with little or no English. The Hispanic organization for progress and education or hope acknowledges children who have overcome language difficulties in schools and head start programs Head Start. Now educates more than three hundred four year old Hispanic children in Wyoming including more than 100 who enter the program speaking little or no English. There at a very good time in their lives when they're with Head Start. Ages 3 and 4 to learn another language. This is just the perfect time for them to learn language. We try to help them feel comfortable with. Having these things in the classroom that are perhaps from their culture. We do visit with all head start families.

When we go to a home visit where the family does not speak English so we take an interpreter with us from. School districts around Wyoming struggle to meet the needs of children with limited or no English. These children now number more than 2000 in this state. Each year we collect statistical evidence from our school districts and our latest data that we've looked at from 1999 indicated that two point four or five percent of the student population in Wyoming was of limited or no English. This phenomenon is very very new. I think the school district is doing a really good job of just dealing with these kids who are really different because of language reasons

from you know from all the other kids. Natasha is one of three English as a Second Language teachers at Jackson Elementary School where 63 students received special instruction. Stuffing is a big big problem because of the salaries that are offered in Wyoming. It's hard to recruit people to come to Wyoming to do ESL. I teach eight kindergarteners and one first grader. They are one had limited English speaking skills when she started but the rest were non-English speakers. They've come a long way in nine weeks. What. Is your next story that they're familiar with like three packs three bears that they have in their own country. And then I pull out the vocabulary that they would use in everyday like pig and build and things like that.

But school officials in Evanston found the specialized instruction too expensive. Once the children complete kindergarten they are taught in regular classrooms with some special one to one help kids that have limited English proficiency should be taught at least three years coming out and working with the vocabulary from their programs that they use in the classroom. All the kids that would be limited English speakers are being taught in the classroom using myself and my Patrizia and they don't come out anymore for intensive instruction. The district didn't want to finance it anymore. Schools have done some notoriously bad things with the minority students and with Mexican students with limited English They've put them in special education where they don't belong. They put them in remedial classes where they don't belong and they find other sorts of alternatives. They sometimes perceive them as being discipline problems.

They are risk to our students that are for some reason may fail in a certain subject where the limited English speaking kids. The only disadvantage they have is that they don't speak English. So I don't think the two should be categorized together because it's two different needs of instruction. Most state aid for students with limited English skills goes to schools on the Wind River Indian Reservation but some extra state funding nearly $1000 per student is directed to Wyoming school districts that have large numbers of non English speaking children. I would certainly hope that they would address the problem of limited English speaking students with this money. But there is not at this point a legal obligation for them to do that. If a school district sees the need to provide additional resources for students who have limited English proficiency there are really only two options. One of them is for the school district to redirect some of its resources by the second option would be for the state to

provide more. The state would probably say we give you our block grant and that's a local determination about how you spend that money. Well in Wyoming we are a very rural state with schools very small numbers. And so what happens is when you have a family move in that does have children with limited English or no in life. In some cases. The schools do the best they can to provide English as a second language. Wyoming has a poor historical record of educating Hispanic. High dropout rates for Hispanics who have been here for generations. It does not bode well for new arrivals. According to our latest data collection which is the 98 99 school year. We do have in Wyoming in grades 9 through 12 the dropout rate of 5 percent. It is interesting to note that our Hispanic population of our Hispanic students we do have an eleven point five dropout rate which

is a little more than twice the rate of the non hispanic. If you look at the high hispanic dropout rate for children of families who have lived here for years then you know it's not. Really expected that the experience for newly arrived immigrants. Is going to fare much better. I believe that our education system is failing the Hispanic family. There's great discussion about the concerns for the dropout rate. But. Then. The Mexican students are being kicked out of school for very small reasons. We need to find a way to help these kids succeed. I found the administrators of the school that I was doing research in and the teachers said that this extraordinary high dropout rate that I found of Mexican-American students was due to the culture. They said the culture didn't value education. They said that the parents of Mexican-American students didn't value. And then they said they blame the students. All of

that I think is a you know further indication that teachers and administrators need to have an education of how to work with this particular group of students. And instead of blaming them to say wait a minute these are bright intelligent young people and we have to find ways to be successful with them. Any time you see an increased dropout rate in a certain group of children that is a concern to us at the state. We do reinforce the importance to our schools. We need to really provide very intense. Or I should say focused programs just especially for the children that they see need extra help. It's true that some Mexican kids lack proficiency in English but a bigger problem may be that Wyoming residents lack the skills to relate to people.

Who are different. Wherever we address this then the English speaking question I think we have mostly focused on the language. We also need to be culturally competent in how we teach these children. And that means we need to understand their culture. We have put together. Several cultural competency trainings. We really want to target mental health professionals school professionals. We've even had. A training with the police department. And I guarantee you if you will persevere and if you will stick with this family only it will enhance your learning process one way to promote cultural competency is to teach Spanish to agency workers so they can better serve clients who do not speak English. So far in Wyoming However it is only law enforcement that has picked up on the idea. You had a county sheriff's office has offered intensive instruction in Spanish language in Mexican culture since 1998.

All over Wyoming Mexican families settle them buckle down and do what it takes. To make a living. Margaret told me the famous bathrooms and stock shelves said Little America on Interstate 80. He said he earns very little though more than he did as a fruit picker in California and is better treated by his employer. But the lonely high desert is a harsh contrast with his native home in the Middle East. But we're not just Mexicans. Zacatecas from a beautiful city very colonial built in pure rose colored rock. We like this country but we don't consider it our country. We are Mexicans.

I feel truly Hispanic and in a way I still have my cold Triston stuff and there are always going to be with me wherever I go. I feel both Mexican and American. Because. I got sworn in. Three years ago. But that doesn't change my feelings. Why aren't. My skin color in my hair on the right thing. Because this country gave me the opportunity. All. Over again. Personally myself I feel like it makes it kind of still but I respect this country. It's like everywhere in the world there is black people and that's good people. I love my country now with my my own. And one day I would like to go back but I wouldn't think this once before I ever. Joke.

So. As. Some of these new immigrants will go back to Mexico. Others will put down roots as well as others who came before them. Perhaps at the time that my dad came here there were many other immigrants coming in at the same time and there was a mix there and there was an opportunity that it was that it wasn't just one particular nationality it was many. So it may have been easier at that time. Currall served in the Vietnam War worked for thirty four years in the soda ash industry in Green River and has been in politics for more than 20 years. You just have to resolve yourself that you have the opportunity to go as far as you want. Providing that you want to invest the time and the hard work into lots of hard work a lot of luck and I've just been determined that I wanted to show people in power that you could be more than just a migrant worker. We did

see a lot of discrimination in those early days but very little use those you know created for good. We were just just happy to be on our own and not working for somebody else. I like to thanks everybody. Everybody just being just. Very very nice. We're just looking for a better life. Put it in chains. People shouldn't think we're here to cause a problem. We're here to work hard to improve our lives. Nway who works seasonally in Jackson and spends part of the year in his native son Simeon says he can literally read the writing on the walls. All these houses are built with money from the United States. People build them a

little at the time as they earn their money in the United States. You can tell who's coming back if they're building a house down here. They're coming back. If not they're going to stay there. The children born in Wyoming are automatically American citizens which may influence family decision to remain here. Individual decisions paperwork actions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and perhaps even changes in U.S. immigration law will determine to return to Mexico and who remains in Wyoming. Many Mexicans facing certain poverty and marginal status in Mexico will do all they can to stay in the land for. Example.

The. Funding for this program was provided in part by the Wyoming Council for the Humanities. And for members of Wyoming Public Television. Of