LatinoUSA NPR Audio: The 1% and 99% of Mexico meet in NYC

mariachirestaurantastoria

LatinoUSA’s Antonia Cereijido writes the intro:

If you go to a high-end restaurant in New York City, there’s a good chance that you’re dining among some of the wealthiest Mexicans in the world and being served by some of the poorest. This story was produced in collaboration with Round Earth Media. Tyler Kelley is a co-reporter on the piece.

[Mariachi Restaurant in Astoria, Queens, NY, photographed by Aude. Some rights reserved.]

Vote! Damian Lopez Rodriguez died to become a citizen (video)


Damian Lopez Rodriguez was brought to the USA without documents as a child — you know, one of those rapists and narcos from Mexico Donald Trump is going to deport.

Damian loved his new country so much he enlisted in the Army when he turned 18. After he died in Iraq, he was granted posthumous citizenship by President George Bush. Damian’s dad has faith his son in Heaven is voting in this election. Are you?

In South Philly, immigrant restauranteurs worry about Trump (videos)


Donald Trump’s racist anti-immigrant rhetoric is a big worry for immigrant-owned businesses. The owners of a South Philadelphia staple, South Philly Barbacoa — around the corner from the famed Italian street market — are concerned about what a victory by GOP haters might mean for their family. [Video by Cora Cervantes.]

Mas…In South Philly, immigrant restauranteurs worry about Trump (videos)

Happy Rosh HaShana from the Jews of Tijuana! Happy 5777! (video)

tijuanaMexico, like the United Estates, is a “nation of immigrants.”

In the 1900s, Tijuana welcomed Jewish refugees fleeing wars, hate and poverty in Europe, Asia and the Mideast.

Tijuana Jews, the story of the extended Artenstein family, has become a POCHO Rosh HaShana (New Year) tradition ever since we noticed rosh-ha-shana rhymed with Tijuana in 2012.

Mas…Happy Rosh HaShana from the Jews of Tijuana! Happy 5777! (video)

Alvaro Huerta, Ph.D: The day my Mexican father met Cesar Chavez

cesarstamp640

Long live the farmworkers!

My late father, Salomón Chavez Huerta, first arrived in this country as an agricultural guest worker in the mid-1900s, during the Bracero Program. The Bracero Program represented a guest worker program between the United States and Mexico. From 1942 to 1964, the Mexican government exported an estimated 4.6 million Mexicans to meet this country’s labor shortage not only in the agricultural fields during two major wars (WWII and Korean War), but also in the railroad and mining sectors.

Like many braceros of his generation from rural Mexico, my father didn’t speak too much about the horrible working / housing conditions he endured while toiling in el norte. This included low pay, overcrowded housing, terrible food, limited legal rights, lack of freedom outside of the labor camps, racism, verbal / physical abuse and price gauging from company landlords / stores.

Mas…Alvaro Huerta, Ph.D: The day my Mexican father met Cesar Chavez