Francisco Jimenez

Breaking ThroughFrancisco Jimenez Panchito describes his family flight from their home in a small village north of Guadalajara across the border into the United States.
On both sides of the fence were armedguards in green uniforms. His dad called them la migra and explained that we had to cross the fence to the other side, without being seen by these men. If we succeeded, we would enter los EstadosUnidos....Panchito’s family continued walking along the wire wall. Few minutes later They were picked up by a woman whom Papa had contacted in Mexicali. As they traveled north through the night, Panchitofell asleep for a long time. He just woke up at dawn and heard the woman say, we're entering the San Joaquin Valley. Here you'll find plenty of work. ‘This is the beginning of a new life, His momsaid.
Many years would pass before anyone in the Jiménez family experienced that good life. Jiménez’s father, Francisco, his mother, and his older brother Roberto found work picking crops in the fields.Them were working from sunup to sundown, the entire family earned just $15 a day. "It's a symbolic circuit," Panchito said "If you're a migrant worker, you're constantly living in poverty. It'svery difficult to get out of it.
Panchito could not start school until after November harvest and because he knew so little English, he struggled to keep up with his classmates. One teacher even labeledhim mentally retarded. Panchito was luckier than his brother Roberto, who was old enough to pick cotton and therefore could not start school until February. Panchito describes the pain of leaving hisbrother behind on his first day back at school: "I woke up early that morning and lay in bed, looking at the stars and savoring the thought of not going to work and starting sixth grade for the...