Jesús Garnica

Title

Jesús Garnica

Description

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Jesús Garnica was born July 4, 1929, in Tasco, Guerrero, México, and Esther Garnica was born on August 23, 1934 in Villa Corona, Jalisco, México; Esther came from a family with eight siblings, while Jesús was the oldest of three; Esther’s father was a bracero; they met in Mexicali while Jesús was a bracero in the Imperial Valley, California; in 1959, they moved to Blythe, California after getting their residency papers; they stayed in the U.S. with their nine children, and Esther became a U.S. citizen in 1990.


Summary of Interview: Mr. and Mrs. Garnica remember their childhood and how they moved to Mexicali; they recall their courtship, wedding, and their life while Jesús worked as a bracero; furthermore, they recount how he was hired as a special contract in Calexico, how he didn’t have to travel to Empalme or go through the fumigation process, and how he worked with the same company; they describe how braceros were fumigated out in the open where everyone could see, and how people laughed because they did not know what was going on; moreover, Jesús relates a time when he was treated badly by a foreman for being a special contract, and how he and other special contract braceros were sent away from the farm; he continues to state that he contacted the Mexican consulate and that at first they did not believe them, but eventually they helped and sent the braceros to a different farm; they express how they moved to Blythe, California after becoming residents, what life was like on the ranches there, how braceros work alongside undocumented workers and Filipinos; to conclude, they state that life in the bracero program was very hard and full of hardships, but that they are glad they were able to better their lives.

Creator

Loza, Mireya
Garnica, Jesús

Date

2006-05-22

Subject

Bracero

Contributor

Cristóbal Borges

Rights

Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso

Language

spa

Relation

Esther Garnica

title (Spanish)

Jesús Garnica

creator (Spanish)

Loza, Mireya

contributor (Spanish)

Cristóbal A. Borges

Rights Holder

Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso

Original Format

Mini disc

Duration

1:09:32

Bit Rate/Frequency

24 bit
96 k

Interviewer

Loza, Mireya

Interviewee

Garnica, Jesús

Location

Blythe, CA

File Name Identifier

Garnica_BLY010

Citation

Loza, Mireya and Garnica, Jesús, “Jesús Garnica,” Bracero History Archive, accessed November 25, 2024, https://braceroarchive.org/es/items/show/291.