Interview with Mirtha Guzman
Introduction
I conducted my interview with my mother, Mirtha Guzman. My mother was born on August 12, 1963, in Cochabamba, Bolivia. My mother grew up in a large family and she had 10 siblings. She was the 5th child out of 10 children. She grew up very close with her family as she would celebrate Bolivian holidays with her entire family, which would include 30-40 family members. My mother would describe her days as filled with family members coming in and out of her home. My grandfather was the provider in the family and my grandmother took care of her entirefamily with the older siblings being a second mother or father to the younger children. My mother grew up in a very traditional household. She went to Catholic school throughout her schooling and would later attend college and begin her career in law.
During college, she began to work as a secretary at a Petroleum company. This is where my mother met my father. Once engaged, my father began to explore different living situations. My father’s uncles urged him to not stay in Bolivia or move to Argentina and encouraged him to go to the United States. The economic situation in Bolivia and Argentina was not doing well, and my father’s uncles believed there would be more opportunities in the United States. Later, my parents would decide the United States was the best option. They applied for a visa which resulted in their acceptance. They flew to Panama and landed in New York City. My parents immigrated to the United States with my father on September 12th, 1999 (My parents in New York City on the left). A month and two days after their wedding, they left all their wedding presents, belongings, and family behind. Once they arrived, it was time to start working.
The Beginning
Once my mother arrived, like with every immigrant, it was a cultural shock. They arrived in New York City, New York. My mother’s brother picked them up from the airport and welcomed them to the United States. They had planned to live in New York City, but my uncle did not agree with the idea. He was afraid that since they did not know anyone in New York City, it would be best to stay with him in Chantilly, Virginia. They would take up the offer as my mother’s brother would guide them through the job search and how to function in the US society. Within the first couple of days, they began to work at Burger King at Dulles International airport.
In Bolivia, my mother was in the process of earning her degree in law. It was hard to transition from pursuing a job in law to working in the fast food business. It took her a long time to process how the United States viewed her. During the interview, she would mention how horrible people would treat her and often compared herself to a piece of crumb on the floor. She could not believe the type of job she was working. As a professional, my mother believed she should work within a company or a job where she felt well respected. As we have learned in class, these types of jobs are classified as secondary secretary jobs or “dirty jobs” as they can be described as low-skilled and low-paying jobs. The demand for these jobs is so high and easily accessible to many migrants who are looking for a job. On certain occasions, these jobs can target migrants to fill these jobs due to their flexibility and accessibility. My mother would work long hours at Burger King and continued to work there to make money. She barely spoke any English and can recount times when she would be verbally harassed and called horrible names.
As mentioned, my mother would describe feeling like nothing and comparing herself to a crumb. This is a result of the United States dehumanizing and criminalizing immigrants. The United States developed a restrictionist immigration rhetoric during the late 19th century and continues to this day. For example, the Trump administration explicitly targeted immigrants throughout his campaign. This narrative has been used to create fear toward immigrants in the United States. This combination of fear and narrative toward immigrants created a negative view of migrants which has led to hate crimes and stereotypes.
My mother had barely any time to adjust herself to the new country. My mother would later work with my uncle’s party planning company until they moved out a year later. My father would move up to manager and general manager at Burger King.
Without the support from my uncle and other friends, my parents would not have been able to find and buy a home as quickly as they did.As we have learned in class, many immigrants have these social capitals. These social capitals connect immigrants to non-migrants or former migrants to form a community. They guide and support immigrants through this social connection. This lowers the risk and increases the b
enefits of immigration to the United States. My uncle, for example, gave them a place to live and used his experience to guide them to a workplace. My uncle was not the only one who supported my parents. Other friends within the Latinx communities gave my parents advice on how to succeed in the United States. For example, a friend introduced my parents to my Godmother, who would dr
ive my mother to her doctor appointments and introduce them to a realtor to guide them on how to buy a home. This gave my parents an advantage as they were able to buy a home and begin to live within a year after their arrival. Social capital is a reflection of how Latin American countries function as a community and are willing to help one another.In the interview, she mentions how the greatest change she experienced was the difference between community societies and individualistic societies. She reflects on how there is no friendship, family, or religion in the United States
society. What that means is that the United States society tends to be individualistic and disengaged from the community. She has always described people as being cold and unfriendly toward her. Every time there is a holiday coming up, she invites our family to our home to celebrate the holidays. She has always described family gatherings as a luxury. A luxury in the sense that it is rare to have the entire family together due to time and schedule.
Being Undocumented
What they did not realize is that they could no longer go back to Bolivia. They did not know they had to have certain paperwork to be able to travel back and forth from the United States. Once I was born, my parents could no longer leave to go back to the United States. It took my mom years to accept she was undocumented. It was very hard on my mother. My mom became a stay-at-home mom to take care of my sister and me. Growing up she never let us talk about her status to others. As a mixed-status family, it was hard to hear other families’ stories of deportation. I’ll never forget the day I found out what that meant to my parents. During the Obama administration, we would see on the news people being ripped out of their homes. I remember my parents sitting my sister and me down to talk about what we would do if we were put in that situation. We discussed who we would contact, and other scenarios to prepare ourselves. My mom would constantly remind me not to talk about it with other people. It was really hard to imagine my parents being deported. As the older sister, I had to stay strong, but as a little girl, it was difficult to imagine my parents being taken from me.
As my mother mentions in the interview, she never felt comfortable talking about her status. She always had it in the back of her mind that she needed to follow the rules. She would remind herself that as long as she did everything right and did not break any laws, nothing would happen to her. She further explains how she has never felt completely free in the United States but felt almost like a slave. She felt trapped in her job as she could not leave. If she left, she had to look for another job which meant more companies looking into her status. She needed to stay in her job to continue to receive health insurance and other benefits. Even when she gets verbally harassed or discriminated against, she continues with her day. It is her only option for work. She had to go to work every day to provide and acquire those benefits provided. She can’t ask for the day off, because it is one less day off from her paycheck.
Throughout her interview, she mentions the idea of survival and facing difficult challenges. My parents did what they needed to do to survive. My mother worked long hours while she was pregnant, stayed at home to take care of us while running a daycare, and began to work and faced discrimination and verbal harassment. As she described, my parents went against the current and faced those challenges head-on. My parents have been in the process of applying for their residency since I was around 10 years old. They have experienced fraud and impersonating immigration lawyers. It has been difficult for my parents to experience these setbacks but has only made them stronger.
In 2021, as I turned 21, my parents and I began the residency application process. Through their social capital, they found a reliable and legitimate immigration lawyer. I am currently sponsoring my parents to become US residents. This is the first step to becoming a US citizen and after 5 years, they can apply to be US citizens. In the interview, my mother discusses how even with papers, she will always be seen as a visitor to the United States. Proper documentation does not visibly make you a US citizen. It is an approval stamp from the United States government to being a legal US citizen. It will not combat verbal harassment, stereotypes, and hate crimes against immigrants.
Conclusion
Every time my mother tells me her story, I try to put myself in her shoes, but I can’t. I don’t know how she could have done it. It is difficult to be able to pick up and leave everything behind. I feel like it is especially hard when you are leaving behind a close-knit family like my mother’s. She left behind an uncompleted degree in law and left behind her community.
My parents have worked every single day since they came to the United States and continue to do so. Once again, they remind me how innocent their intentions were to come to the United States. They just wanted to start a family and work. Due to restrictionist immigration policies and stereotypes put on immigrants, their experience is often challenging. If it were not for social capital, my parents would not have had anyone to guide them and support them. In the interview, my mother ended the conservation by saying at the end that she has one goal, and it is for her daughters to succeed. Many may believe immigrants come to the United States to take away jobs and take over the country, but immigrants come to see their children succeed.
English:
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Hello everyone. My name is Andrea Mariscal-Guzmán. I am a senior at JMU studying political science. And today I’m going to be interviewing my mom.
Mirtha Guzman: Well, I’m Andrea Mariscal’s mom. My name is Mirtha Guzman. And well, I am from Cochabamba, Bolivia, and I immigrated to the United States on September 14, 1999. Any other question from my daughter I am happy to answer.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Thank you very much mom. Now the first question: when you came to the United States, where did you arrive and did you have to travel to another state when you arrived in the United States?
Mirtha Guzman: Yes, I arrived in New York and my brother and his wife waited for me there. He did not accept that we stay in New York because he was always a little afraid that we would stay in New York and we didn’t know this country well. And he told us that we could come to Virginia and well we accepted because we had someone who could guide us. So we said, well, we’re going with you and we came here to Chantilly, Virginia to live. I’ve been here for about twenty-three years now.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: And you already touched on the topic that you were in Chantilly for a year from what I remember, but where did you live when you arrived here in the United States? How was the process moving to another place?
Mirtha Guzman: Arriving here we got a job that was at Burger King. And there we met other people who guided us to buy a house. And we had a little savings from my husband and me. And we said, we will have to buy a house. You can’t buy a house without papers only with an I.D and to do taxes. So we did a year of taxes and in the second year we bought a townhouse that we have lived in since then.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: You talked a bit about your first job here in the United States, but how did you manage to get that first job or what was the process like? And how was your experience working in a Burger King?
Mirtha Guzman: Well, um, at first it was very difficult for us to work in a fast food company and it affected us emotionally because we didn’t agree because we as immigrants thought we had to accept everything, but we really didn’t need to accept.
Because we were people in Bolivia, professionals in which we worked in offices and we worked in an oil company called Bolivian fiscal oil fields and that’s where we came from. We did not come with that idea of saying we will emigrate there or we will go to work. It was not our goal. If not, our goal was when I met my husband, it was that his relatives, since he is Argentine, said when we get married, don’t even be in Bolivia and do not go to Argentina.
We have had a resounding change in our lives, it was when we arrived because we did not think that it was like this, at least what I had thought. So it was a 90 degree change as I have always said. In the end, we had to accept because when you get here I think you put your feet on the ground and say I have to work now because I have to survive here. Because in reality, I came to start here from scratch, as we say maybe normally and that’s how we progressed and we had setbacks, we had rages, we had discussions, we had a lot of challenges to achieve a fixed asset like a house to say a car or a good job. So, uh, but yes, we achieved little by little, and taking those firm steps to achieve something in this country.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: You talked a lot about the changes and like any immigrant when they come to a new country, they experience changes in their time here and what was a drastic change that you have experienced here in the United States?
Mirtha Guzman: I think the drastic change from my country to this country has been the values, because there, in Bolivia, when we are professionals, people value professionalism, they value the person as such. Here when one arrives, it is nothing. You start from scratch and work hard, but it isn’t enough. It frustrates you because people look at you like nothing and the country is looking at you like a little crumb. So that’s what frustrates you and makes you sick, right? So, that drastic change that I made in my life, I have never felt good until today.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: You talked a lot about your experience here in the United States as a Hispanic. What is your personal experience as a Hispanic here in the United States?
Mirtha Guzman: The first experience for me would be that you have to work to achieve your goal. You have to fight to achieve any goal. You have to work. Having that desire to go against the current to achieve a goal. And my experience is that struggle, that desperation of perhaps reaching that goal and right now I am halfway to my goal. I have a very deep goal and that is my daughters. And I’m halfway there, but I want to keep fighting until I reach that goal. And one day, with the grace of God, I will get there because I have faith.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: And when you see on the news, immigrants crossing the border. What do you think of those immigrants, as you talked about now, the United States system, sometimes, especially with legislation it makes it a little more difficult for immigrants coming to the US. So what do you think of those immigrants who cross into the United States?
Mirtha Guzman: I think it is extremely dangerous and at the same time admirable. Perhaps, they come with the desperation of being able to achieve better acquisitions, better objectives, better living and they risk their lives. I have heard many things about these cases and I really do not agree, but since, as I repeat again, it is for their financial good. Because in our countries the economy is so low and the country itself is not doing well in any economic, political, or emotional aspect. So when we say that money is not happiness, it is happiness. So if they come it’s because they want to, maybe to progress more in life, family, more than anything.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: And as an immigrant, do you feel comfortable talking about your status as undocumented?
Mirtha Guzman: I don’t feel perhaps 100% comfortable, but I have always known that if I do things here, all the rules, then I comply with the laws and I don’t have any problem in any way. So I live, not one hundred percent well, because I am a person perhaps a slave, but free. We will say here I do not see family. I don’t see friendship. Ah, I don’t see, we’ll say religion, I don’t see many things that, since I lived in Bolivia, more than anything, affect me as a family. No, I don’t see a united family and whenever I join my family I have put the name that family is a luxury in this country.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: That was all the questions for this interview, and I want to thank you very much mom for doing this interview with me and you really are a role model for me and I am very happy that I could hear your immigration story here in the United States. And thank you. Do you have a few words or something to say to end the interview?
Mirtha Guzman: Well, I’ve waited about twenty-three years to fix my papers and now that my daughter is 22 years old. My daughter is sponsoring me now. And even so, when I have the papers, I will continue to be a visitor here, no longer an immigrant, but a visitor from this country. And as you will see, a visit to anywhere is a visit that has to be fulfilled. Wherever you go, you have to meet the rules of that visit.
I’m going to continue to be that way because this country has raised me that way. Thanks daughter.
Spanish:
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Hola a todos. Me llamo Andrea Mariscal-Guzmán. Soy un senior en JMU estudiando ciencias políticas. Y hoy día voy a entrevistar a mi mamá.
Mirtha Guzman: Bueno, soy la mamá de Andrea Mariscal. Mi nombre es Mirtha Guzmán. Y pues soy de Bolivia, Cochabamba y he emigrado a Estados Unidos el 1999 el catorce de septiembre. Cualquier otra pregunta de mi hija la voy a poder responder.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Muchas gracias, mami. Ahora la primera pregunta cuando viniste a Estados Unidos, a donde llegaste y tuviste que viajar a otro estado cuando llegaste a Estados Unidos?
Mirtha Guzman: Sí, llegué a New York y ahí me esperó mi hermano con su esposa. Y pues él no aceptó que nos quedáramos en New York.
Porque siempre estaba tal vez un poco de miedo que nosotros nos quedemos porque no conocíamos este país. Y nos dijo que sí, podíamos venir a Virginia y bueno aceptamos porque teníamos alguien quien nos pueda guiar. Entonces dijimos, pues nos vamos con vos y nos vinimos acá a Virginia, a Chantilly a vivir. Ya estoy como veintitrés años acá.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Y ya tocaste un poco en el tópico que estabas en Chantilly por un año en lo que me acuerdo, pero dónde viviste cuando llegaste aquí a Estados Unidos? ¿Cómo era proceso moviéndote a otro lugar?
Mirtha Guzman: Llegando acá conseguimos un trabajo que era en burger king. Y ahí conocimos a otra gente que nos guió para comprar una casa. Y teníamos un poco de ahorro de Bolivia de mi esposo y de mi. Y dijimos, tendremos que comprar una casa. Así es que se compra sin papeles solamente con un I.D para hacer taxes. Entonces hicimos un año de taxes y en el segundo año nos compramos un townhouse que vivimos desde esa vez hasta ahora.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Hablaste un poco de tu primer trabajo aquí Estado Unidos, pero cómo pudiste agarrar ese primer trabajo o como en el proceso? ¿Y cómo era tu experiencia trabajando en un Burger King?
Mirtha Guzman: Bueno, um, al principio era muy difícil para nosotros trabajar en una compañía de comida rápida y nos afectó emocionalmente porque no estábamos de acuerdo porque nosotros, como inmigrantes pensábamos que teníamos que aceptar todo, pero en realidad no aceptábamos aceptar.
Porque éramos personas allá en Bolivia, profesionales en el cual trabajamos en oficinas y en realidad trabajamos en una compañía petrolera que se llama yacimientos petrolíferos fiscales Bolivianos y de ahí nos vinimos. No con esa idea de decir iremos a emigrar allá o iremos a trabajar. No era nuestra meta. Sino nuestra meta era cuando lo conocía mi esposo era que sus parientes de él, como él es Argentino, dijeron cuando se casen, no estén ni en Bolivia. No esten la Argentina.
Hemos tenido un cambio rotundo en nuestra vida fue cuando llegamos porque no pensábamos que era así como yo al menos he pensado. Entonces era un cambio de 90 grados como siempre he dicho. Al final, teníamos que aceptar porque ya llegando aquí creo que uno pone los pies sobre la tierra y dice tengo que trabajar ahora porque tengo que sobrevivir aquí. Porque en realidad, yo vine a empezar acá de cero, como decimos tal vez normalmente y así avanzamos y y tuvimos tropiezos, tuvimos rabias, tuvimos discusiones, tuvimos mucha polémica para lograr un activo fijo que diríamos como una casa por decir un auto o un un buen trabajo. Entonces, eh, pero sí, logramos poco a poco, eh, y dando esos pasos demasiado firmes para lograr algo en este país.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: y hablaste mucho de los cambios y como cualquier inmigrante cuando vienen a un nuevo país, experiencia cambios en su tiempo aquí y cuál fue el cambio más drástico que has vivido aquí en Estados Unidos.
Mirtha Guzman: El cambio drástico yo creo que ha sido de mi país a este país ha sido un tal vez un 99 por ciento porque allá nosotros, en Bolivia, cuando somos profesionales, la gente valora el profesionalismo valora á la persona como tal. Aquí cuando uno llega, no es nada. Entonces, hasta en ese aspecto se empieza de cero, porque eso es lo que te pone triste. Te frustra porque la gente te mira como nada y el el país esté te mira como una una pequeña miga
entonces eso es lo que te frustra y te pone mal, no? Entonces, ese cambio drástico que hecho en mi vida me nunca me he sentido bien hasta el día de hoy
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: y hablaste mucho de tu experiencia aquí en Estados Unidos como Hispana. Qué es tu experiencia personal cómo hispana aquí en Estados Unidos?
Mirtha Guzman: La primera experiencia para mí sería que tienes que trabajar para lograr tu objetivo. Tienes que luchar para lograr cualquier meta. Tienes que esforzarte. Tener esas ganas de ir contra la corriente para lograr un objetivo. Y mi experiencia, esa lucha, esa desesperación de tal vez llegar a esa meta que ahora mismo estoy en la mitad de mi meta. Yo tengo una meta muy profunda que son mis hijas. Y y estoy en la mitad, pero quiero seguir luchando hasta llegar a esa mi meta. Y un día, con la gracia de Dios, llegaré ahí porque tengo fe.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Y cuando ves en las noticias, los inmigrantes cruzando el borde. Qué piensas de esos inmigrantes, como hablaste ahora, la sistema de Estados Unidos, algunas veces, especialmente con legislaciones que son un poco más difícil para inmigrantes viniendo a Estados Unidos. Entonces, qué piensas en esos inmigrantes que cruzan aquí a Estados Unidos.
Mirtha Guzman: Pienso que es sumamente peligroso y a la vez admirable. Tal vez, vienen con la desesperación de poder a lograr mejores adquisiciones, mejores objetivos, mejor vivir y y arriesgan su vida.
He escuchado muchas cosas de esos casos y realmente no estoy de acuerdo, pero como, como vuelvo a repetir, es por el bien de ellos económicamente. Porque en nuestro país la economía es tan bajo y el país mismo no está bien en ningún aspecto económico, político, emocional no está bien.
Entonces, cuando decimos que el dinero no es felicidad, pero sí es felicidad. Entonces si vienen es por querer, tal vez progresar más en la vida, familiar, más que todo.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Y como inmigrante, te sientes cómoda hablando de tu estatus como indocumentado?
Mirtha Guzman: No me siento tal vez 100 cómoda, pero siempre he sabido que si yo hago las cosas aquí, todas las normas, cumplo las leyes entonces y no tengo ningún problema en ningún aspecto. Entonces vivo, no el cien por ciento bien, porque soy una persona tal vez esclava, pero en libertad. No veo. Diremos aquí no veo familia. No veo amistad. Ah, no veo, religión diremos no veo muchas cosas que, como vivía en Bolivia, más que todo, me afecta familiarmente. No, no veo la familia unida y y siempre que uno a mi familia he puesto el nombre de que eso es un lujo en este país.
Andrea Mariscal-Guzman: Es era todas las preguntas para esta entrevista, y quiero agradecerte mucho mamita por haciendo este entrevista conmigo y realmente eres un modelo para mí y estoy muy feliz que podia escuchar tu historia de inmigración aquí Estados Unidos. Y muchas gracias. Tienes algunas palabras o algo que decir para acabar entrevista.
Mirtha Guzman: Bueno, he esperado como veintitrés años para que arregle mis papeles y y ahora que mi hija tiene 22 años . Mi hija me está patrocinando ahora. Y aun así, cuando yo tenga los papeles, yo voy a seguir siendo acá una visitante, ya no una inmigrante, sino una visitante de este país. Y como ustedes verán, una visita en todo en todo lugar es una visita que tiene que cumplir. Lo que donde usted vaya, tiene que cumplir las normas de de esa visita. No se tiene que cumplir las normas y voy a seguir siendo así porque este país me ha educado de esa forma. Gracias, hija.
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