Even as a U.S. Kid, I Was Afraid of 'La Migra'

In honor of Cesar Chavez Day, the Henry Madden Library at California State University, Fresno partnered with StoryCorps to record and preserve the stories of Latino families in the San Joaquin Valley. 

We’re airing excerpts of some of those conversations on The California Report Magazine. In this one, Olga Jimenez tells her husband, Manuel, about the fear she had of the Border Patrol as a child, and the sacrifices she has made for her family. Listen to the full conversation below.

Olga Jimenez was born in Pharr, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"P-h-a-r-r," Olga spells out for her husband, Manuel. "And it was far."

Olga says her family lived in a field of hay, and she remembers her mother's warnings to stay quiet when la migra, or the border patrol, was around.

"I didn't know what the migra was, but if my mom said to be very quiet, we listened," says Olga.

Her large family eventually moved to Woodlake, California, to work in the fields, and in 1970 she married Manuel.

Olga had plans to go to Fresno State for school, but those plans changed when her first son was born in 1971.

"I had been a caretaker all my life," Olga says. "I had one child on my hip throughout my life, and it was a very easy role for me to take on."

Manuel also dropped out of school, but he eventually returned to Fresno State while Olga went to work packing oranges.

Manuel Jimenez went on to become a successful farm adviser for the University of California, helping small farmers and pioneering crops like blueberries and mangos in the San Joaquin Valley.  

"You were much smarter than I," Manuel tells Olga. "You're a better student than I ever was, but you gave that up for your family."

Later, Manuel and Olga together planted a remarkable public botanical garden in the farmworker town of Woodlake.

The project was co-sponsored by the California State University, Fresno Office of the President, the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Social Sciences and Valley Public Radio.