Nazario Castillo
What was the most difficult thing for you while growing up?
For me
it would have to be surviving. Because of terrible economic situation in my
country and my parents were extremely poor.
Why do you think Mexico had such a bad economy?
To be honest I think the government in Mexico is corrupt and steals all the money from
the working people. We needed that money!
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Ever since I could
remember I was always interested in how cars worked and that’s what I have been
doing all my life.I have worked on cars, buses, tractors and anything that
needed fixing.I am so grateful to be doing what I love to do.
What was you favorite singer while you were growing up?
Jose Alfredo
Jimenez, some people even said I looked like him.
Why did you decide to immigrate illegally to the United States?
To
find a better way of life since Piedras Negras,(Coahuila Mexico)
was “dead” there were no jobs in the town.
Describe your journey to get to the U.S.A.?
Gosh, there were so many
since I would come and go a lot. I came up north from 1950 through 1962.But luckily all my trips were pretty smooth
even when I was deported I was treated fairly.
Where and when were you deported?
I can't remember all of them but the one in 1962.They were so many. I just remember that
some of the border patrol officials even knew me. They always said oh it's you again.
Did you ever hear about"Operation Wetback?"
Yes but
we were never deported during this operation. We only heard about this operation just hoping and praying we would not be next.
Why did you decide to be a migrant worker? Were there limited opportunities
for work?
I actually did not have a choice. I was only trying to bring
food to the table it didn’t matter how.
Where did you work as a migrant worker or ,brasero?
What were your tasks?
I worked in Quemado,
Texas. Utah and Indiana.
My tasks ranged depending on where I went. In
Quemado I worked with tractors, irrigating, loading and anything they asked me
to do. While in Utah and in Indiana
Where did you live? What were the living conditions?
I lived in
barracks the owners provided for us. I did not think they were in bad conditiond
well I never had much to compare it with.The only problem was that we had to go
outside whenever we needed to go.
How much were you paid?
I was paid $1 an hour up north while in
Texas I was only paid 50 cts.
What do you think about the child Labor law in 1935?
It was a great
idea. Too bad that this law wasn’t obeyed at least from my experience. There
were children as little as four year old working in the fields of Utah and
Chicago just trying to help their parents make a living.
Did you ever learn English?
Yes, it was necessary just to get by. At first I only answered yes to everything.
Then I learned everything dealing with my work although you do not need English in the fields.
If you had to leave a message to the next generation what would it
be?
Go to school and study! So you can make progress. Things are very
different now, you can’t survive off of manual labor anymore.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
I think it would have to be raising my
family of nine and making sure they became good people. I also think that having my shop is great. I survived all the obstacles.
Piedras Negras,(Coahuila Mexico) .Map of Piedras Negras from http://www.vidanuevaministries.com/mapamexico.GIF. Piedras Negras Coahuila is the city Nazario grew up in and lived most of his life there.
"Operation Wetback?"From http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/timeline/20.html. Operation Wetback was the major threat for any illegal allien this operation was so controversial and discriminatory.
brasero From Sin Fronteras Organizing Project.http://www.farmworkers.org/bracer1a.html.This is the official website of the farm workers or braceros. Website is dedicated to publicize and educate the public about the plightof the agriculture workers. This website recognizes the dignity of the contributionsmade by the men, women, and children who work very hard to feed us. Brasero was a program Nazario was a part of.
Quemado, Texas. From The Handbook of Texas Online. The Handbook of Texas Online is a joint project of The General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association. 2002. Quemado, Texas is a place where Nazario Castillo worked in the fields in 1948.
