WEBVTT - The Letter 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.920 High listeners, just a quick heads up out of the 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.400 shadows tell stories of people fleeing and living in sometimes 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:19.599 violent environments. It is the winter of in A group 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:22.480 of six bright eyed ten year old girls from Del 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:25.840 Rae Elementry hop in their school bus for a short 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.360 drive to Fresno State to compete at the annual Peach 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:35.440 Blossom Festival. Their teacher, Mrs Arrenas, is excited for her group. 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:39.720 These girls keep each other on their toes if they 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.479 respect each other, but they're also competitive toward each other, 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:49.680 something missus Arrenas strongly encourages. This is the third time 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:54.840 Marcella has participated in the annual Peach Blossom Festival. Marcella, 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.920 and honor student, is no stranger to this stage. Spend 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.760 every Sunday of her life singing hymns in front of 0:01:02.760 --> 0:01:06.680 her church, wearing a long sleeved blue satin dress with 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:10.560 white ribbon around her waist and collar bone that her 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:15.679 mother spent hours making just for the occasion. Marcella walks 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:20.880 up to the stage, her head raised up high, her 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:27.240 hands clasped together, and begins to recite her oral presentation 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:34.240 to the amazement of everyone in attendance. All six of 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:42.800 Mrs Arna's students, including Marcella, when their presentations so surprised 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:46.120 that a reporter from the local paper asks the group 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:51.560 to pose for a picture. Mrs Arna's gathers the girls, 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:56.120 pulling them closer to her, the tallest in the back, 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.760 the three shortest in the front. Okay, everyone, I want 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:06.160 to see big smile the girls nor Mrs senas safe 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.800 for one. Give him that big smile. There is no 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:16.160 gloating here, no hands on hip. Instead, you see a 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:20.280 humble group of girls from a small immigrant town, looking 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:25.120 out of place in this big city. And if you 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.080 look closely at this picture, you will see something else. 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:36.240 Marcella is hiding behind her close mouthed smile. She is afraid. 0:02:37.480 --> 0:02:41.840 She's afraid she won't have the opportunity to share this 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:46.800 win with her parents. Marcella is afraid she's going to 0:02:46.840 --> 0:03:06.600 burst into her home and find it empty. Y I'm 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.720 Patti Rodriguez and I'm Mary Glendo, and this is out 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.880 of the shadows. Children of eighty six Immigrants and their 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.880 children have long lived in the shadows of America. Their 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:18.200 destinies aren't just shaped by where they come from, but 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:23.000 by their particular place in history, The lives of millions 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.600 of immigrants and their children were changed by one lucky 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.960 stroke of a pen by an unlikely ally, President Ronald Reagan. 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.480 This podcast will examine the ripple effects that bill had 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:37.200 on first generation kids of immigrants who are navigating intergenerational 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:41.560 mobility and transforming the cultural landscape. This is an untold 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:59.800 story of luck, timing, triumph, opportunity, survival, and of course hope. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:04.800 Doing research for this podcast, I came across the letter 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.280 that I'm holding here now, and it feels like fate. 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:13.560 The Reagan Library digitized and saved this letter written by 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.960 a ten year old little girl from Fresno who was 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.960 pleading for sympathy from the President to help her dad. 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:27.640 The only leverage she had was her good grades. Dear 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.839 President Reagan, my name is mart Sella Sanchez. I'm ten 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.440 years old and I live in del Rey, California, with 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:39.320 my parents, Jose and Romilia Sanchez, three sisters and one brother, 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.320 and the oldest of us five and I studied at 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:49.120 Delray Elementary. Imagine that a little kid who felt so 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:53.360 compelled to protect her family that she decided to write 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:58.680 a letter to America's boss trying to prove that her 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:03.240 family deserved to be American. She went straight to the top. 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:09.120 I was so inspired by this letter that I decided 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:14.760 to try and find a little girl who wrote it. Yes, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:20.000 they were recording. Now, okay, great, thank you so much. UM. Sure, 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:26.080 I cannot believe it, UM, And I did. That's Marcela 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:30.159 Sanchez who sent the letter to President Reagan forty years ago. 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.840 To be exact. She still lives in Fresno County and 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.920 it's now a corporate finance manager. Do you remember writing 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.600 that letter. I do remember writing it, especially the part 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:46.960 about the report, because I was very proud of my 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:52.280 grades back then. I'm enclosing a copy of my report Carden, 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:55.360 some pictures of me in the newspaper, and some awards. 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.960 I was born in Mexico with another sister of mine. 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:04.599 My sisters and brother were born in California. My father 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:06.960 and mother came here to find a better way to live. 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.479 Since nineteen seventy four, my father has worked as a 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:17.320 gardener janitor, but since October night he has been working 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:23.400 in the police department in president It's nineteen seventy four 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:28.719 and Marcella Sanchez is only three years old. She and 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:33.839 her mom dad and little sister. The entire family is 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:37.080 packing to leave their home in the Mexican state of 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:42.479 Vera Cruz. A few days later, led by her father Jose, 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:47.400 the family finds themselves in del Rey, a small country 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:54.960 town in Fresno County, California. Soon the family becomes six 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:59.039 and the Santances get to work on building a new 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:05.200 life and despite being undocumented, and Romelia do their best 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:09.680 to shield their children from the everyday struggles. They never 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:13.760 go without food, they always have a roof over their heads. 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:19.840 Bromelia makes Marzilla and her three sisters dresses. Did they 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:23.320 get to wear to church every Sunday? You know, I would. 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:29.400 We always had clothes, but it was not until um 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:34.200 I started, you know, paying attention. Because a parent can 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.880 only shield a child for so long before they begin 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.840 to ask questions, before they begin to pretend to be 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:48.480 asleep to eavesdrop in those late night conversations, before their 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:54.960 problems begin to eat at their own children. I remember vividly, 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.000 like late at night listening to my parents talk about 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.720 their finances, talk about their struggles, and they were they 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.600 were very, very discreet in their room, but I was 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.440 always rolled nose and roll you know I knew a lot. 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.360 When I was ten years old, my parents to shield 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:19.800 me from the everyday struggles, though it was almost impossible. 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.560 We lived in a small backhouse the size of a garage. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:27.840 There was absolutely no place to hide anything. My mom 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.320 was working for a clothing company, then in the evening 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:35.120 she was doing night school. My dad was teaching her 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:37.560 to drive on the weekends because taking the bus so 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:41.680 early in the morning was becoming too dangerous. Both my 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:45.360 parents worked long hours. My mom would get home from 0:08:45.400 --> 0:08:50.480 school at PM, and on most nights, as exhausted as 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:54.240 she was, will prepare us. We was comfri Coles for dinner. 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:59.360 She never wanted us to go to bed combre and 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:03.080 we would only see her for an hour. Maybe my dad, 0:09:03.679 --> 0:09:07.480 we rarely saw him. He worked the night shift, sometimes 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:11.400 even longer. Most of the struggles my parents were shielding 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:14.320 us from was the fear of how we're going to 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.720 pay this bill, the rent, my braces, Where were we 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:22.640 going to get that money for my mom's car. I 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.440 would go to bed praying to God to make me rich. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:28.880 I would daydream what life would be if I found 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.480 a bag full of money on my way to school. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:37.040 Maybe my mom would work less. Maybe my dad would 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.280 get a job where he can pick us up from school. 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.720 Maybe my mom wouldn't have to worry anymore about my braces. 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.319 And if only I could get the money to buying 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.120 from my parents so they can learn English, maybe, just 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:57.400 maybe we could live as care free as the families 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:01.960 I watched on TV. After my parents both got their 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.200 green card, I slowly stopped worrying if my dad would 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.959 make it home. By then, I had slowly forgotten the 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.920 fear of the word migra. They had a feeling of 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:16.160 my entire body working against me at the fear that 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.480 my dad's work would get rated. That a feeling was 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:25.480 suppressed in the depths of my subconsciousness along with the 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:27.880 days I worried if my dad was going to come home. 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:34.679 So while for me that fear was behind me, for Marcella, 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:41.120 it is beginning again. Out of the shadows will be 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:54.160 right back. Oh, now, back to the show. My mother 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:57.320 is afraid about my follow's job on the economic security 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.920 of my family because we were one of the many 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:04.480 dammies under the Silva versus Viva jacket control. I asked 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:06.679 my mother who could help us, and she told me 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.200 God and President Reagan. Then I got to write to 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.480 you to ask you to please help us with this 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:16.600 one thing. Are we Go residents. In the late sixties 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:21.520 onto the mid seventies, undocumented immigrants in Western Hemisphere countries 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.280 like Mexico and Watemala with the U S born children 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:28.959 could apply for legal permanent residency. When the immigration law 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:33.920 changed in ninete, no more baby case immigrant visa numbers 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:39.280 could be issued. Many undocumented immigrants were then immediately subject 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:45.720 to deportation orders. However, Terry fear Tag, a Chicago immigration lawyer, 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:50.400 soon discovered that the State Department had wrongfully issued nearly 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:54.400 one and fifty thousand Western Hemisphere immigrant visa numbers to 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:59.280 Cuban refugees. Mr fear Tag organized a small team of 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:03.959 lawyers who quickly filed a class action lawsuit Silva versus Levi, 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.160 arguing that the immigrant visa numbers given to Cuban refugees 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:12.080 had been done without lawful authority, limiting spots that otherwise 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.400 could be available for immigrants of other Western Hemisphere countries. 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:22.640 Mr Feartag successfully argued the case. Here he is describing 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:28.800 that day that was the magic day the Immigration Service 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:33.200 and somebody from Washington to argue for the government. I 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:38.720 argued for our side, and it went on for an hour, 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.440 and it was like watching someone on a chapeese because 0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.680 the judge would ask questions that an answer is swing 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.640 this way, swing that way, anyway. Bottom line is at 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.400 the end of it, he said, motion for temporary standing 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:59.640 order is granted. We then draft an order which includes 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:06.199 a provision that everybody in the class would be entitled 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:10.319 to the issuance by the Immigration Service of eight what 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:16.400 then became known as a silver letter, which essentially said, 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:19.040 this is the person with a ticket in line and 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:24.280 they are given permission to remain as long as you 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:31.640 know this injunction is in existence and they have employment authorization. Essentially, 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.400 anyone who was in line by the end of ninety 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:37.760 six could get a notice known as the silver letters, 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.280 giving them the right to be here and to work 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.200 while the complex legal case worked its way through the courts. 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:47.960 And then of course it meant that families were protected, 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:52.720 you know, the kids and the spouse. That's the person 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.240 who was vulnerable was the worker and he had work 0:13:55.360 --> 0:14:00.240 authorization now or she had work authorization now, and the 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:05.240 immediate family remain. Those silver letters expired in November of 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.679 both Marcella's mother and father no longer had the protection 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:15.120 the letters had offered them. Marcella's first ten years of 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:19.080 her life when a little something like this, she went 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.360 from living in the shadows to having one foot in 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:23.600 the shadows and the other foot tasting a little bit 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:27.680 of freedom with the silver letters, to then be thrown 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.440 back into the shadows all over again when those silver 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:34.160 letters expired for her parents. And I just remember that 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.320 and that, I remember my mom always praying and always 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.880 say no, you know, hopefully they don't kick us out 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.840 or thinking parted off something, you know, say. She was 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.800 always worried about that. Many times, when I see my 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:53.320 two children, Alexander and Olie, I think of how lucky 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:55.400 they are to go to bed every night without being 0:14:55.440 --> 0:15:00.440 afraid of tomorrow. I remind them that when I was 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.000 just a toddler, I crossed the border with my parents. 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:06.280 I tell them that at their age, I get home 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:08.640 from school, fire up a pan and make my brother 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:13.840 Stacos the bacon because we were just starving. I end 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:21.040 up sounding like my mother and my kids. They asked questions, 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.680 was grandma scale, what was grandpa? Are you a baby Mama, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:29.520 Grandma had then how did they find you? But to them, 0:15:29.600 --> 0:15:32.760 these are just stories that happened once upon a time. 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:36.880 To them, these stories I now tell are not any 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.840 different than reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Her privilege 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.240 Mazilla and I did not have because we had to 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:48.200 grow up fast. We had to learn to carry the 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:54.400 weight our parents carried. I think, what what I remember, 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.520 like I said, dizzily, with my dad and his job. 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.400 But it was also like remember like them always worried 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.760 about the paperwork, like there, you know, they get stopped, 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:07.160 they're still security, They're all that. We didn't have any 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:10.320 of that. So my parents were always extra careful as 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:14.440 far as following the traffic laws, paying their taxes, all 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:16.680 of that. I remember them always talking about that stuff 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.240 and how they just you know, followed them to the 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.840 law because they didn't want to stand out. They didn't 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.920 want to call any attention to themselves, and which kind 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.840 of like led me to be that way as far 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:30.920 as like in school, like it it made me want 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.040 to do better in school and not stand out and 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.800 be bad or not to not to rock the boat 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.360 in any way because it was always scary like that. 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:42.280 We would be somehow found out that it was my parents, 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.040 you know, that had to had to struggle and to 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.480 you know, carry that burden of not being documented. You know, 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:54.560 Marcella's worst fear wasn't so much her getting deported. For 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.400 some reason. I was thought, well, we didn't have to leave, 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:58.280 but my siblings would have to stay here, and who 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.680 are they gonna stay with? You know. I remember thinking like, well, 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:02.960 me and my sister are gonna have to go back 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.400 because we're the Mexico. But you know, my other sisters 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:07.480 are not, and my brothers not. That they're gonna have 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:09.480 to stay here, and that means we're not gonna be 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:11.359 able to see them. I used to be afraid and 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.359 I was like, oh god, we're gonna get separated because 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.840 they belonged to America, we belong to Mexico. The weight 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.400 is so heavy. It's so heavy that it trickles on children, 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.880 you know, and like you said it, like your parents, 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.600 we're trying to be discreet, but nonetheless, you think the 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:31.679 oldest and at that age you're curious and inquisitive, and 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:36.520 do you hear things like kids are really smart and 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.840 they hear everything. You think. Kids are not listening but 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.679 they are. Marcella will sit with her mother as she 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.199 watched the news, so afraid that her dad may not 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:50.600 walk in through their door that night. She will pull 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:54.119 apart her mom's prayers and realize something that I find odd. 0:17:55.040 --> 0:18:00.320 Her mother was including President Reagan and her prayers. My mom, Um, 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.320 she would always tell us to pray for the president 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.879 because you know, Um, we may have an opportunity. You know, 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.560 to to to to do this. You know, she had 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:13.280 to get this, this big opportunity. Marcella was now on 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.920 the mission. She had to find a way to get 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.560 a hold of the only person that can help her family. 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.479 So she did what any ten year old would do. 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:33.320 Out of the shadows will be right back now, back 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:41.119 to the show. I remember that there was a teacher 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:44.520 in school. This wasn't She was a an lingual teacher, 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:47.600 and I remember talking to her about it, and I 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:50.159 asked her, how do you get ahold of the president? 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.359 How how can you talk to the president? And because 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:55.760 that kids right to the president all the time acting 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.360 this because you wanted to get a hold of the presidency. 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.159 I wanted to get a hold of somebody. And my 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.280 mom told me that the pregnant is the only one 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:07.520 that can make this decision. To me, it was like, okay, well, 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:11.040 let me talk to the president. I thought it was 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.040 just as simple as you know, let me come up. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:17.240 And I remember talking to missus Vana and she told me, yeah, 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.280 you can write to the president. And it was kind 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.359 of like it was so non salant, is what I'm 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:24.040 trying to say, Like I didn't. I think it was 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:26.480 like writing to the president was just like like nothing, 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:31.800 like like writing to your grandma. So in January, Marcella 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:35.920 writes a letter addressed to President Reagan. In the letter, 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.200 she attaches to honors letters signed by her school principle, 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.119 along with the newspaper clipping of the photo of her 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:47.240 participation and win at the Peach Blossom Festival. Ten year 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:50.440 old Marcella wanted to prove to the president that her 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.920 family deserved to be American. In the timing of this letter, 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:01.200 I also find fascinating Reagan just marked his one year 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.359 in office. Two was also the year when the first 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:09.040 draft of the immigration bill was introduced to Congress, and 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.000 it was also the year Congress chose for irka's cut 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:17.600 off date immigrants arriving after January one. Two. We're not 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:22.080 eligible to apply, And the fact that out of all 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:26.640 the letters Reagan received during his presidency, this is one 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:32.119 he saved. Idea this letter existendential. Now I don't. I mean, 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:34.320 I remember the letter now, but I'm like I said, yeah, 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:36.879 I don't. I guess I pushed that letter back into 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:41.280 the back of my mind. It makes sense that Marcella 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.080 doesn't remember writing this letter, just as it makes sense 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:48.639 for me growing up gradually suppressing my own memories of 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:51.800 crossing the border with my parents, or suppressing the fear 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.880 of immigrant raids. Being a child of immigrants, whether born 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:58.040 here or not, does not exempt us from the fear. 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:03.440 The fear we oppressed to survive, And just like Marcella's 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.560 parents are, immigrant parents go above and beyond to try 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:11.000 and make our lives as normal as possible, even when 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:17.080 they are carrying their own pain. Like that beautiful quote 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:24.120 by Damian Leone, immigrant parents with their wings cut still 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:30.560 teach their children to fly. My parents did such a 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.399 good job of shielding us from a lot of it, 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:37.240 not in a way that like made us forget or 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.840 take programmed what it was. It was more of like 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:44.080 protecting us um from like the bad part of it. 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:47.320 I guess it was. But they play instilled in us 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:52.280 like be grateful for what we have, be grateful that 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:54.240 we get to be here and that we get to 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:56.960 well whatever we have, like I remember it like to 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:59.440 this day, like I don't. I don't ever remember thinking 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:01.720 I was poor. You know, we lived in the projects 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.320 in Sorry, I don't remember ever feeling poor. My parents 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:09.080 have always did touch a great job. And she'll beam 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:10.640 as from all that. Like I tell you, the only 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:12.359 reason I knew it because I was nosy and I 0:22:12.400 --> 0:22:15.680 stayed up late that by listening to their conversations. You're 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.200 a part of history. You don't even and you don't 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:22.880 even know it. No, really I know, and I'm kind 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:24.920 of embarrassed because I'm my god, I took so much 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:29.159 for granted. No, I wouldn't say it's for granted. I 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:31.040 would say maybe you suppressed a lot of these feelings 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:34.199 because filled with fear. Right now you're laughing because you 0:22:34.200 --> 0:22:35.960 know it's it's it's almost like little still, you know, 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:37.800 Penio gar asking, you know, how can I get a 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:40.800 hold of President? But I'm sure Tim you old Marcella, 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:44.679 we'll kind of make it a way. Yeah, too, had 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:48.840 a mission too, for you have the courage to to 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:51.680 write this letter, because still this fear that you had, 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:55.480 you know, and me, I'm sure little Marcella was really scared. 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:04.920 In Marcella's family received legal residency. And I remember my 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:07.880 dad saying, you know, pray God, like we've been praying 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:10.119 for this, and we've been it's been so long coming. 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:12.359 And I remember it's even the people from church we 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:14.359 used to have us. My dads have a best friend, 0:23:14.840 --> 0:23:17.800 another pastor friend of his and and he and I 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:20.000 remember my dad calling him and telling them that we 0:23:20.080 --> 0:23:23.040 got it, and everybody was just happy. It just changed 0:23:23.119 --> 0:23:25.919 the mood of my parents, like and I think by 0:23:26.000 --> 0:23:28.280 that time, that's when my mom was like, oh, well 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:31.680 now I can get a job, like start working and helping. 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:35.639 And it just changed the whole the whole vibe, the 0:23:35.640 --> 0:23:42.040 whole environment. So what happened to Marcella a lot. And 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:45.440 you know, it's funny. In high school and my sister 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:48.560 when we remember like we had a resident Alien cards. 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:51.200 And I was another thing too, because your friends carry 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:55.440 around their social securities, their ideas and everything, and we 0:23:55.520 --> 0:23:58.320 had to carry around our resident Asian card and and 0:23:58.400 --> 0:24:00.480 all that stuff. And and back then you with It's 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:03.000 kind of was an embarrassing thing. I guess it was 0:24:03.160 --> 0:24:06.200 for us because you're like, there was a stigma behind 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:09.440 all that you're legal, you're illegal even though you're Mexican, 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:12.560 and just like your other friend was Mexican, but the 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:14.680 fact that you were born in Mexico and not born 0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:18.200 to California, you were different. You just felt like you 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:21.359 had that stamp on your back. And I always thought that, 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:24.520 always thought that until the day I became a citizen, 0:24:25.520 --> 0:24:27.520 and then after that it was just like, Okay, I'm 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:31.280 like everybody else. And um, I've been married now for 0:24:31.400 --> 0:24:34.080 thirty years, which and then I have I have two kids, 0:24:34.240 --> 0:24:38.440 I have two grandkids and one on the way. I 0:24:38.640 --> 0:24:43.240 have a master's degree in health administration and I worked 0:24:43.280 --> 0:24:47.600 for a three hospital system here in Presido, California. I'm 0:24:47.680 --> 0:24:51.800 a finance manager, so I manage um of wh I 0:24:51.800 --> 0:24:54.760 started managing a program and I manage a department that 0:24:55.000 --> 0:25:00.520 saves our hospital about fifty million a year, which in 0:25:00.760 --> 0:25:05.080 turn helps programs for indigent people, like because our hospital 0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:08.080 is like a it's a safety net hospital, so we 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:13.560 use those savings to help people without insurance, people without document, 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:16.960 you know, without deep immigrants that don't have insurance, or 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:20.040 that comes to our hospital seeking medical care and don't 0:25:20.040 --> 0:25:22.639 have a way to pay for it. This program saved 0:25:22.720 --> 0:25:26.240 dollars that are used to pay for for for this 0:25:26.320 --> 0:25:30.320 stuff like that. So I come full circle. Do you 0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:36.399 think little Martella m would have believed this? I don't know, 0:25:38.560 --> 0:25:41.600 you know what I have left and I'm like, I 0:25:41.640 --> 0:25:44.760 don't want to cry. But honestly, I was blessed with 0:25:45.680 --> 0:25:49.920 two parents that I believed. Hey, first of all, believe 0:25:49.960 --> 0:25:55.439 the God and believed in the American system. They believed 0:25:55.480 --> 0:25:58.560 in it to this day, like my parents are or 0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:02.199 my dad passed away, now my mom. I mean, they 0:26:02.320 --> 0:26:08.240 believed in democracy, they believe in America. They followed the laws, 0:26:08.400 --> 0:26:12.600 you know, And I think that that I think back 0:26:12.680 --> 0:26:17.800 then writing that letter, even though I was a kid, 0:26:18.080 --> 0:26:20.760 I believed. I believe that it would make a difference. 0:26:21.040 --> 0:26:23.800 Like I really did. I believe that, Hey, I'm gonna 0:26:23.880 --> 0:26:28.280 right to the president. He why not, Like he's gonna listen, 0:26:28.480 --> 0:26:31.560 you know, he he has an office. He's gonna open 0:26:31.640 --> 0:26:33.760 my letter. He's gonna listen. I think part of me 0:26:34.160 --> 0:26:38.240 always believed that it could it could be. But that's 0:26:38.280 --> 0:26:41.680 thanks to the way I was raised and the way 0:26:41.920 --> 0:26:49.200 my parents believed. Wow, Kelly was talking to you, that's like, 0:26:49.359 --> 0:26:52.600 I mean, wow, that's just amazing, Like you don't know how, 0:26:52.720 --> 0:26:55.240 you don't know like how this has made my week, 0:26:55.680 --> 0:26:59.879 my my year. Probably what do you think of her? 0:27:00.119 --> 0:27:05.680 M A. Regan? You know what? Honestly, besides Um Carter, 0:27:05.840 --> 0:27:07.520 he was my favorite. And it's funny because I'm not 0:27:07.640 --> 0:27:10.159 a I'm not a Republican, I'm not a Democrat. I'm 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:12.680 I'm out not a liberal. I'm an independent. I have 0:27:12.840 --> 0:27:15.760 my own thoughts, I have my own beliefs and everything. 0:27:16.560 --> 0:27:21.560