Name of interviewer: Enrique Alvear Date of Interview: June 16, 2016 Location: Chicago, IL Interview Language: Spanish
Originally from Amealco, Mexico, Cecilia Castrejón came to the United States with most of her family. With the initial plan of visiting the United States for a short stay, Cecilia came to Chicago 34 years ago. She attended elementary school in Amealco, Guerrero, and then had to take care of her brothers while she worked at her family farm. Upon arrival to Chicago, she started to work as a housekeeper at a hotel and then found a job as machine operator in a factory and worked there for 27 years. At that time, she married, had two children, and got permanent residency in the United States. She has two grandsons and her entire family lives in Chicago, Illinois. Cecilia usually visits Amealco and Morelos (where one of her brothers lives) once or twice a year. As an undocumented immigrant, Cecilia first traveled to the United States with four of her cousins and crossed in dangerous conditions the Tijuana-San Diego border before joining her relatives in Chicago. She spent approximately 12 years without going back to Mexico because of her immigration status. After this period, in 1986, she adjusted her status thanks to the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) and went back to visit her parents in Amealco. Four years ago, Cecilia collaborated in the creation of the “Comité de Mujeres Activas de Amealco” which mainly dedicates to collect collective remittance funds either for developing new social projects in Amealco or for finishing public works in the small town. She declares that Mexican hometowns and federations are very masculine and sexist worlds. She observes that there are very few clubs in which one or two women participate in leadership positions and hometown associations tend to be predominantly constituted by Mexican men.
