Children of 86

back claimed the accordion. Other kids running around could be my cousin's standing off to the side, trying to peek over my dad's shoulders, and one of them is just staring at the camera like a deer in headlights. And right as the camera shutters, my dad blinks. The back of that photo is stamped November. I didn't know it yet, but back in the States, that same date that is

stamped on the back of that photo, November. The most unlikely allied to immigrants just signed IRKA, the Immigration Reform and Control Act, into law, allowing millions of immigrants and their children and their children's children to plant roots in this country. I've had this realization that my life, my parents life, and possibly even your life wouldn't have been possible. Oh hey, Eric, So I've been thinking about our lives, Hey, Patty, and it's starting to make sense. So I need you

to hear me out. I think our lives would have been impossible without Ronald Reagan. El Salvador is nearer to Texas than Texas is to Massachusetts. Yeah. That guy, damn. That's my co host and also best friend, Eric Eric Glendo. We've known each other since we were eighteen selling shoes at J. C. Penny. You know, back then we didn't have people to look up to, and now we're a force. I'm Patty Rodriguez and I'm Eric Glendo. And this is

Out of the Shadows Children of eighty six. Immigrants and their children have long lived in the shadows of America. Their destinies aren't just shaped by where they come from, but by their particular place in history. In nineteen eighty six, the lives of millions of immigrants and their children were changed by one lucky stroke of a pen by an

unlikely ally, President Ronald Reagan. This podcast will examine the ripple effics the bill had on first generation kids of immigrants who are navigating intergenerational mobility and transforming the cultural landscape. This is an untold story of luck, timing, triumph, opportunity, survival, and of course I hope I never thought of asking

my parents why they came here. I mean, I knew they came here to the u S undocumented, and I also knew that at some point they got a green card, and the green card mint being legal, legal to be

here in this country without fear of being deported. Yeah. Same, I mean I knew it happened, and I was thankful, But as a kid, I had never really asked my parents how or why they came here, right, I mean I never I never sat down and reflected on how it happened, or or the wild fact that both my parents, my deals, my theas, and millions of other people, including your parents, erk received legal residency all at the same time.

And thank god they did, because this country as we know it today wouldn't be the same because Latinos, Latinas, Latino, Hispanic, latin X, whatever you want to call us, we're here. When my grandmother got here, she never could have imagined one of her grandsons would be standing with you here today to say these words. I am a candidate for President of the United States of America. For the first time in history, no candidate and no political party could

reach the White House without the Hispanic port. Latinos play a key role in economic growth, as their buying power jumped to more than one point seven trillion dollars in the last ten years alone. The number of Latino business owners has grown compared to just three for all others. It's a momento, its momento, this is our moment. There's no better example of the success of Latinox people than Boulevard Market in l A Boulevard Market is a food

hall made of converted shipping containers. It's just east of downtown Los Angeles and Manabello, the heart of l as San Gabriel Valley. It opened in and it's so special to me. It's a place where Latin X families come every day to spend money on tackles, fresh Cevie chick and melt in your mouth bush. But it's so much more than food. There's life, music, art, culture, and most importantly community. Thousands of people come here every month to

live their best life. It's a reminder of how far We've come that we can have spaces that are built by us and for us. You got Cafe Santo that's from Wakaka. You have Vitos that are Salvadorian past Cantina which is coastal Mexican. You have Nola, which is New Orleans food. You have which is Mexican and Guatemalan. Tacos there fused together. This is Barney Santos. He owns Boulevard Market.

He's giving us a tour of the place. You know, as simple as this idea sounds, it's kind of It was kind of a radical one when we started it right, like to say like, okay, we're gonna build this hybrid entrepreneurship social enterprise that lie is Latino owns that focuses on black and brown founders. That creates a platform. Growing up, we used to create our own spaces and parks, dirt lots or swap meats wherever we could find it. Really

nothing was permanent. Everything felt fleeting. All of that is here, living and breathing and eating tacos at Boulevard Market. Being here feels like establishing permanent. Like now we own our own spaces. It's a big deal. Barney's an entrepreneur, hustler, and he got his entrepreneurial spirit from his parents, who

immigrated to the US from El Salvador. Like, just to come to this country is entrepreneurial in itself right, and then being in this country, like my mother and my father both were always doing something some side hustle, selling perfume, selling clothes. My dad would make bracelets and I would go with him to Sign of Monica to sell them to people. You know, So I learned about like sales

and entrepreneurship from them. I would and be who I am if it wasn't for that entrepreneurial spirit that they had, and for the opportunity that we were able to even just be here in this country because of everything that happened politically in the eighties. So my mother became a citizen because of the amnestatment. Standing in Boulevard Market, when I see all of this, I think of two unbelievable things.

The first one is that I own a small piece of this me a first generation daughter of immigrants from Lynnwood, from Southeast LA. I invested in this place, and wow, it belongs to us. And the second thing I think about is that none of this would be possible if it weren't for Ronald Reagan. That's right, the guy who is considered a god in conservative circles and a devil in most of Latin America. This is why this is so complicated. He created a type of poverty and the

war on drugs that devastate my community. But also in six he signed a bill that would eventually grant amnesty to three million undocumented people. That's three million people that came out of the shadows and built the America we are seeing today. We weren't supposed to come out of the shadows, but we did. Out of the shadows. Will be right back now, back to the show. So what

exactly is Irka? Eric? Can you break it down for us? Yeah, for sure, because basically what I like to think of as the street name for the Immigration Reform and Control Act of six If you're wondering why congressional bill has a street name, well, ship was monumental on the streets. It's the first comprehensive immigration reform law of its kind in US history. But Urka is like an M. C. Scher painting. What you see when you look at it may depend on your reality. On one hand, Ker gave

three million people, many of Latino dissent amnesty. That means three million green cards, establishing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a way to establish roots without the constant fear of deportation. But there was one catch. You had to prove that you were in the US before. But Urka was an effort to curb the flow of immigration by providing sanctions to employers who hired undocumented immigrants. It was not that amnesty plus heavy fines and strict border

enforcement would stop the flow spoilers. No sanctions were issued, the flow didn't stop, and enforcement has only gotten more punitive. You see, America has his unchecked addiction to cheap labor. Most of that comes from undocumented immigrants. Most of them come from Mexico and Central America to pick and harvest our produce, make our clothes, and clean the homes of

middle class and wealthy Americans. Despite how vital immigrant laborers to our industries, agricultural ak, the food we garment, the clothes you wear, domestic the people who landscape, clean and build your houses, and raise and take care of your children. That's not even mentioning the contributions to the economy. Despite how vital immigrant labors to our industries, this country refuses

to recognize them as citizens, should even as residents. To put it in a different way, the US needs the cheap labor of immigrants, but won't allow them to be part of this country. So Urica was supposed to be a one time deal, the immigration reform to end all immigration reform, but it wasn't that simple. On this podcast, you're gonna hear from some of the people who they're like Alan Simpson, one of the principal sponsors of IRKA in the Senate, in let's not do a story for

the audience. Let's just do an honest story, and then the audience will either pick it up or understand or they won't, but we'll get into that later. Nonetheless, for millions of undocumented sons, daughters, deals Primosa's parents, IRKA was a chance, a shot of becoming American and stepping out of the shadows. And two of those people where my parents. And it all started with my mom and a wild, terrifying chase to the Sonoran Desert. My name is Paula,

and I'm hearing that you say. For forty two years, is you no one? And whatever you do? You remember? Do you remember you arrived for the first time? Yeah? I remember. The first time my mom came to this country was in nine when she crossed the river. My dad was already here working for a few years, and my mom, who was sixteen at the time, came to meet him. She came with nothing more than a backpack full of clothes and dreams of becoming a mariachi singer.

Oh we crossed the river at night, uh, and the water covers meet up to my shoulders. After she crossed, my mom lived into who managed musicians. She take care of my cousins on weekdays and sing mariachi on weekends. It was like made me very happy to sing, you know, in public with a mariachi. A few years later I was born. She got a job in the gartment in the street through a family friend. She liked to employers

and told them she was eighteen. I used to live, party and bed in order to to be a better person, you know, to have his skills, because in this country it worked so hard to to find a job. You don't have a good English, or you do speak English, you know with my but English. But they gave me the opportunity. My mom was trying to finish night school, but then she got pregnant again and had my brother John, the one from the photo. Around this time, my dad

got into an accident. He couldn't work, needed medical attention, and was scared of being deported, so we all went back to Mexico. After all that, crossing the river, dodging lamigra, struggling with two kids in that country where they didn't know the language, they just went back home. But my parents were actually happy in Mexico. They bought a house. My mom had dreams of starting her own business. Us I was a toddler and John was just a baby.

But my mom had her parents there to help, something she didn't have here in the States, so there was no need to give up her dreams. There was no need to stop her education or quit jobs for us. You know, I was very happy because it was maybe the mhm. The house are you know my my dreams? You know, it was big. So this brings us back to that photo I mentioned on the top of the show. Life seemed good for my parents, and then I got

sick m hm. So the doctor told me, you need to go back to what you say, because she's gonna die here. So we we just took a bass to t J to try to know to pass do you say again? To Los Angeles once again. My mom decided to sacrifice her life in Mexico, sacrifice her home, her dreams for a better life for her kids, to literally save my life. So in November, my dad, my mom, my brother John, and I take a bus to Tijuana

to meet. We were told to meet at a house in the desert and when we got there, it is packed with people just like us who are all going to cross. I remember there were a lot, a lot of people in the house, you know, sleeping on on the floor, and and me and my kids as well, John and Patty. They had a big bend and they said, we are going to cross the border and the band so you you guys, so we are going all that way. You know, we're going to dry you know that way

to Los Angeles. We're not going to stop. But my mom had this plan. Since my brother and I are natural born citizens, we don't need to cross through the desert with them. I don't want you to to put in a risk, you know, because I knew already the first time. How dangerous it was. My dad calls his cousin in Los Angeles to pick us up, but he never shows up. So we call Saraho and he said, no, no, I can't. He had a recent Probably, oh, he wasn't scared, because at the time, you know a lot of people

who wasn't scared of everything. A stranger in the house, here's what's going on, and offers to cross me and my brother with our birth certificates. She promises my mom she'd meet her on the other side, and my mom desperately, in naively agrees to hand over her children to her. Yeah, out of the shadows, will be right back now, back to the show. My mom can't imagine her children crossing the desert, but as she's walking away, something doesn't feel right.

Maybe God, oh I don't know, put in mind in my mind and I say, oh, no, I cannot give you my my kids. Imagine every time I remember that, I could ask my my Patty and John if something happened. Something is going to happen. But I want them by you, by me, with me by my side. And here we are, all four of us, And I remember this so vividly when it was our turn. My family got in the van. It was raining that night, and we're packed in this white cargo van that was never made to drive through

the desert, packed just like Sardine's. The smell of fear, uncertainty, and yes, even hope. It was permading throughout. As we begin our track through the mountainous desert terrain, Our heads and bodies bang against the cold, thin walls every time the wheels drive over muddy potholes and slippery rocks. The rain has transformed the ground into a swamp. Suddenly the van stops. Everyone looks around as panic starts to sit in. I can tell something's wrong. Okay, let's think about this.

I'm three years old. Because when kids are at that age and they see stuff they don't they can't really process what's going on, but they feel that something doesn't feel right. Like I'm looking around and no one's really assuring me that things are okay. We hear the driver's being on the gas, the sound of the revving engine, but we're not moving. The sound of rain hitting meadow heightened the anxiety. My brother's diaper is soaked and he's crying.

Women are praying. My mother's praying. My dad and a couple of other men are forced to get out and push. I follow him, the rain falling heavy on all of us. When we noticed one of the tires is very deep, the spinning wheels flapping mud everywhere. Back in the car, somebody screams lamiger, and I feel my entire body turning against me. I'm only three years old, but I know what that word means. How do they find us? Maybe they sense the fear radiating from all of us, like

sharks drawn to blood. So men are pushing you think their entire weight, so it being on the mud and loosing their footing. The rain and prayers grow louder. This is now or never, and one last push and the rear left wheel is eventually free from the mud pit. We only have seconds to jump back in. We are being followed. One man aren't with herbs and prayers, tells everyone to wear the herbs and pray. They'll protect us. He says, but the roads are not kind to the

border patrol either. After we put a mile of distance between them, we lose them. It was hard, I mean for them, because probably they didn't want to ris themselves. And uh and for a my leg or something. They stopped following us, and after that everything was good to hear. To this day, we will never know if the herbs and prayers worked, but my mom seems to think it did. It is because of my mom's courage that I'm even here today telling her story. But that was just the

beginning of my mom's fight to be here. I think back on that photo of my dad holding me and John. My mom must have taken that, and I don't think my parents knew back then that President Reagan had just gotten a bill on his desk that would create a path towards citizenship for millions of families like ours. We were on the verge of coming out of the shadows.

But it wouldn't be easy. And just like that first time when she held all her dreams slung over her shoulders while crossing the Raging River, are shot at the American dream would all hinge on documents in a backpack she carried. When I asked my mom why she had that backpack, she said, in the most innocent tone, I just say, well, maybe just like to remember it. I was here, but we weren't alone. It was amazing things.

The more I've learned about it since, like talking to Patty about it back in the day, Like I was just diving deep into it more and more talking to my mom about it, getting her sort of like perspective on it. The more I was like, Wow, this is kind of like it was a serendipitous moment that happened in time that kind of allowed a lot lot of us to kind of build on, you know, that legacy

and to do amazing stuff here in the country. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of would end up changing the lives of countless of people in birth the circumstances for a Latinos renaissance in this country, Latini that would wind up shaping American culture, saving its aging economy, and shifting the paradigm. And we're going to tell you how and why it all happened this season and out of the Shadows, we will explore the legacy of Urka through

the eyes of the folks who lived it. How one bill is signed by the man responsible for devastating land America also gave three million immigrants a piece of hope. What did it take to pass the bill? And why was Ronald Reagan the person to do it? This season on out of the Shadows. Out of the Shadows is written by Caesar Hernandez. It's also written, edited, hosted, an executive produced by Patti Rodriguez and Eric Galindo. It's produced

by Bets Cardanaz, Karen Lopez and Gabby Watts. It's sound design, mixed and mastered by Jesse nice Longer. Our studio engineer is Clay Hillenburg. Karen Garcia That's Me is our announcer. Out of the Shadows is the production of Seeing Me, Other Productions and School of Humans in partnership with I Hearts Michael Dura Podcast Network. The podcast is also executive produced by Giselle Banzes, Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr and Chad Crowley. Our marketing and our team is led by Jasmine Mehia.

Original music by a Arenas and if you loved his cover of Los Caminos la vida this podcast theme song, you can listen to it on all music platforms. Historical audio for Out of the Shadows comes from the Reagan

Presidential Library and the National Archives. Special thanks to Ian Vargas, Alex and Ali Caitlin, Betger gob Chabran, Daisy Church, Angel Lopez Galindo Julianna Gamis, Ryan Gordon, Brian Matheson, Claudia Marty Corina, Oscar Ramidrez, John Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez, Joshua Sandoval, Eric Sclar, Tony Sorrentino, and Megan tan Or more podcasts, visit the I Heart Radio app, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows