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A Border Story
"Both of us CAN go and live in the U.S. but neither of us wants to."
Listen
to this Commentary!
By Elena Alvarez Huerta & Viry Martino Ruiz
Elena Alvarez Huerta and Viry Martino Ruiz live on the Mexican side of one of the busiest border crossings in the in world--Tijuana, Baja California. The city is home to nearly 2 million people. Many of them come from somewhere else, hoping to enter the United States one day. Elena and Viry are in a coveted position--both girls can cross the border whenever they like.
VIRY
Well, Hi! I’m Viridiana Martino Ruiz. I’m 17 years old and I’m from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
ELENA
My name is Elena Alvarez Huerta. I was born in LA in the United States, but I’ve been living all my life here in Tijuana.
VIRY
That’s the sound of the revolving door between the U.S. and Mexico.
ELENA
Because we’re young and we’re living here on the border, we have access to a lot of things- including a lot of English. So we can tell our story without a translation. We also have more freedom to cross La Linea than most people in this city.
VIRY
Because I DO have that famous green card.
ELENA
And I have a U.S. Passport.
Here on the border, we use some words you should probably know so you can understand our story better.
VIRY
When we say HERE we are meaning Mexico and when we use the word THERE, we are meaning the U.S.
ELENA
The place where a lot of people in Tijuana would like to visit, but can’t…because they don’t have their visa.
VIRY
Or that FAMOUS green card.
ELENA
There’s also these other two words we also use: Gringo - you know what that means…and La Migra, the border patrol.
BORDER GUARD (on tape)
Just need you to go in for a random inspection. Come right in the middle there. It’s a computer generated inspection.
VIRY
The things that separate us from the U.S. are kinda like concrete walls, barbed wire, and also La Migra. But there are borders inside Mexico, too. A lot of really poor people live in Tijuana. And also a lot of really rich people live here. Elena and I fall somewhere in the middle, but we live pretty differently at home. I live at the top of a hill. It’s a gated street – we call them privadas, like a private street. And we have a lot of security and we have a guard. It’s a nice neighborhood.
ELENA
Well, I wouldn’t mind living in a house like yours. Mine, I’m not complaining about the size, I mean, it’s not like a big house, but it’s… Well actually, it is kinda crowded. It’s very little.
Okay, so this is my mom.
MA (on tape)
Maria Felix Huerta.
ELENA
This is what she does for a living – she sells fish tacos.
MA (on tape)
Tengo aquí viviendo en Tijuana 20 años.
ELENA
My mom is from Jalisco, and she has lived here for 20 years. She gets up at 5 o’clock in the morning everyday to make fish tacos and she doesn’t stop working until 9 pm. We don’t have a lot of money, but we have enough and we’re happy here.
VIRY
So my dad gets up at 5am, too, but the difference is that he works in the U.S. So he earns dollars instead of pesos; which means that me and my family can afford to live in a big house and we have also access to U.S. health insurance.
ELENA
Even with these differences, Viry and I have this big thing in common. Both of us CAN go and live in the U.S. but neither of us wants to. We like it here, and we’re probably going to stay.
O.K. for this last part, you need to know two more words:
VIRY
“Beaner” and “Frijolero.” “Beaner” is what ignorant or racist Americans call us Mexicans.
ELENA
And “Frijolero” is us Mexicans making fun of the U.S. citizens who say “beaner”.
VIRY
This song is by a Mexican punk group called Molotov. It’s called “Frijolero,” and that’s what it says. People from Mexico saying, “We don’t like you, and you are a gringo!” and people from the U.S. saying, “Why don’t you go back to where you came from, you beaner!”
ELENA
It’s like, “Don’t call me frijolero, you gringo!”
VIRY
“Well don’t call me gringo you beaner!” Some people really think that way.
ELENA
Of course, those people are not the reason we want to stay here in Tijuana.
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