Inez Rios

Inez Rios

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Inez Rios was born in El Paso, Texas, on April 20, 1936; she grew up on a farm near Ysleta, Texas, with her eight brothers and sisters; her father was the head foreman on the farm where they lived; braceros were often hired to help with the land and harvesting of cotton.


Summary of Interview: Ms. Rios recalls her childhood and what it was like growing up on a farm near Ysleta, Texas, where her father was the foreman; she recalls that prior to the bracero program, there were a number of undocumented workers on the farm; they were often caught by immigration services and returned to México; sometime later, roughly in 1948, braceros were hired to work on the farm; they were contracted through Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; she recalls how the braceros were chosen and transported to the farm; in addition, she remembers what their living conditions were like, their specific jobs and wages, the kinds of food and clothes they bought, and how she and her family often helped them; during the 1950s, she worked in Oregon and Washington for about nine years because the pay there was much better than it was in El Paso, Texas; there were also braceros working in Washington at that time; sometimes German POWs would pick cotton as well.

Baquera, Richard

Rios, Inez

2003-01-31

Interaction with braceros

Cristóbal Borges

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

eng

Inez Rios

Baquera, Richard

Cristóbal A. Borges

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

Mini Disc

45:04

24 bit
96 k

Baquera, Richard

Rios, Inez

Socorro, Texas

Rios_Villa_ELP043