Interviewer : Natalie Garza

Project : University of Houston

Maria Jimenez details her family’s history of crossing the Mexican and United States border both legally and illegally for job opportunities, and then her own migration in 1958. She begins with her life as a school-aged child in Houston, with memories of segregation from whites, Mexican discrimination, and oppression against all aspects of Mexican culture, especially language. Maria recalls interactions with white classmates and the way they treated her or made prejudiced comments, and the way her family cultivated her sense of justice, independence, and equality, and describes her traditional upbringing. At the University of Houston, Maria became involved with political organizations and the Chicano Movement, mostly the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO ) and advocated for equal treatment of Mexican Americans inside the University and in their respective communities. Within the structure of MAYO, Maria clashed with her peers and their opinions on feminism and Chicano identity. These debates and her experience working with the Lettuce Boycotts shaped Maria’s outlook on stratification and injustice. After graduation, Maria traveled to Mexico and experienced for the first time how it felt to be part of a society’s dominant culture and prepared herself for work with multi-lingual, multi-cultural organizations once she returned to the United States. Maria used her political knowledge to help immigrants gain citizenship after in 1996, legislation passed that stripped thousands of immigrants of their temporary resident status. Maria organized ARCA, the Association for Residency and Citizenship of America and expanded it nationwide. She stresses the importance of inclusion across ethnic backgrounds and cultural sensitivity in order to maintain involvement. Maria explains ARCAs activism and how they passed legislation that resulted in community awareness about the electoral system. Maria discusses recent work with the Ezekiel Hernandez case and how she has shone light on Border Patrol abuses, and the formation of CARECEN, the Central American Resource Center and touches on her personal experiences and thoughts on illegal immigration.