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Alma M. García

I am grateful to many colleagues and friends who have provided me with constant support, helpful criticism, and insights that together have helped me write this third update to Cary McWilliams’s North from Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States.

My most sincere and heartfelt thanks to the following:

Marian Perales, Manager, Editorial Development, Race and Ethnicity/American History, ABC-CLIO, for her support and encouragement during this project. Marian, a special thanks for your patience and understanding when my work on this project was temporarily interrupted. Francisco Jiménez, for his lifelong mentorship and friendship. Without his support I could not have completed this project. Francisco, a special thank you for always believing in me; Matt Meier (1917–2003), a pioneer in Chicano/Mexican American Studies, for his mentorship, support, and friendship. I am truly honored to have my name appear with mi amigo Matt in this third update of North from Mexico.

Diane Jonte-Pace, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Provost’s Office, Santa Clara University, for providing me with a stipend while I completed this book and, more importantly, for always supporting my research projects; Gloria Hofer, Michael Gilkinson, and Marc Ramos, Technical Training Specialists, Santa Clara University Library, for their technical assistance; Anna Sampaio and Mario T. García for providing me with their expertise in Chicano/Mexican-American history; Juan Velasco, Associate Professor, English Department, Santa Clara University, for introducing me to the spectacular artwork by Consuelo Jiménez Underwood, whose work Undocumented Border Flowers graces the cover of this book; Swati and Harish Negi and their wonderful staff at Copy Craft, Santa Clara, California, for their technical assistance; and Hilda Lopez and Karen Vigil, Santa Clara Public Library, Mission Branch, for their help in locating many materials I needed for this project.

Writing is too often a solitary endeavor. Without the friendship of the following I could not have “survived” the months of writing, often under exceptional personal circumstances. Special thanks to:

Ed Garcia, my brother and dear friend, for his daily phone conversations with me that helped make the difficult times that I was experiencing more bearable. Ed, you are my rock of support; the Takamatsu family—Will, Tiff, Megan, and Kenji—and their extended family who have taught me what neighborly love is.

To my former professor Dr. John Haddox, Philosophy Department, University of Texas at El Paso, for introducing me to North from Mexico when I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas at El Paso. His mentorship during my college years provided me with a solid foundation for my life as an academic. He introduced me to Chicano Studies and the philosophers Antonio Caso, Jean Paul Sartre, and Albert Camus. Dr. Haddox, thank you from the bottom of my heart. All students should be as fortunate and blessed to have someone like you as their professor.

I would like to express my deepest and most sincere thanks to my lifelong friend Josie Rosas, my treasured amiga para siempre and always “rational” advocate who has taught me the meaning of friendship and spirituality. Josie, thank you for always sustaining me when I was “not in a good place.”

A special thanks to my colleague Professor Laura Robinson, Department of Sociology, Santa Clara University, for her invaluable technical assistance and encouragement during the final phase of this book.

And lastly, I would also like to express my thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Mexican immigrants who came and are coming to the United States in search of a better life for themselves and their children. Mexican immigrants have endured many injustices but have always struggled for social justice. They have maintained their sense of dignity and pride in their Mexican heritage, one that they have proudly inculcated in their children. Their presence in the United States strengthens our country as Pope Francisco so eloquently stressed in many of his speeches during his visit to the United States in 2015. Referring to his own family roots, he proudly stated in a simple, but forceful way, “También soy inmigrante.” (“I am also an immigrant.”)

In memoriam:

My father, Amado García Rodarte (1909–1986), who came “North from Mexico” and taught me to enjoy life’s every moment;

My mother, Alma Araíza García (1920–2010), a daughter of Mexican immigrant parents who spent her lifetime inculcating in me the value of higher education.