Cecilia Herrera and Jorge Minjares

[00:01] JORGE MINJARES: Good morning. My name is Jorge Michares. I am 19 years old. Today's date is January 27, 2023. We are in El Paso, Texas. The name of my interview partner is Ceci are and she is my grandmother.

[00:17] CECILIA HERRERA: Good morning. My name is Ceci Herrera, and I am 72 years old. Today is January 27, 2023. We are here in El Paso, Texas. The name of the interview partner here is Jorge Minjares and he is my grandson. Bueno mecasecon. El ponies. Poso Jose Herrera el mas triste puerto fa Mirman.

[01:44] JORGE MINJARES: What do you feel most grateful for in your life?

[01:48] CECILIA HERRERA: Wow. I feel very grateful because of my family. First of all, because I am a believer, and I really thank for my health, for my family. Siempre que rido vera mi familia unida. Yes. Al go que me satisfaci.

[02:15] JORGE MINJARES: Have you experienced any miracles? Have you experienced any miracles in your life?

[02:22] CECILIA HERRERA: Milagros.

[02:23] JORGE MINJARES: Milagros.

[02:40] CECILIA HERRERA: Bastante pesada. Casia via muipo cas probabilidadesu. Carrera de medicina. Avia. Perofijate. Quesoamos. Adelante. Milagros.

[03:22] JORGE MINJARES: Yossi. CRO milagros. Pero no creoque alguno. Pero no croquet. No crocodil. Milagro. Alguac.

[03:43] CECILIA HERRERA: Algo bonito de to el camos de to nin.

[03:54] JORGE MINJARES: Comer. Mucho siemprevia. Mucho de comer. Tambien los viajesque. Ivamos fumos alemania a canada. Ilo per yenovo. Mexico. Santa fe ridoso ilego. Unavesimerdo. Fimosa mosida ridoso. Pero estavian conqueror. So estamosamosa.

[04:35] CECILIA HERRERA: Bonito akita. Pregunto I creo calexionte. Dejo momento. Truncado de unaziones planias is a convertero.

[04:49] JORGE MINJARES: Planiado sipas laxperience. Fue pla, pero en fin salimos tos en familiar juga homos juntos in la pazamos. Vi eni croque les puerto en lane. How has your life been different than what you imagined?

[05:16] CECILIA HERRERA: Estoy pensando porque creoque nua sido tanjdeh. I think in some way I plan my life. I'm a visionary. And the way it's been planned, it's been, you know. Esco mo que se me a completo todo y po yuna Persona tan felice.

[05:45] JORGE MINJARES: What are you proudest of in your life?

[06:14] CECILIA HERRERA: Diocesundon lake. Tengo pregunta tucres. Ques importante planar unpoco la vida yucro.

[06:36] JORGE MINJARES: Ques importante planar la vida, pero ike serena adaptable criminal justice field. Pero si no mas algo, no planado.

[07:15] CECILIA HERRERA: So when you say that, I would like to ask you, do you have maybe an advice for your friends in regard to that belief?

[07:29] JORGE MINJARES: I think that you should have a. Not really a blueprint or, like, a set path, but to have, like, a loose path and then let other people and other things influence your ideas. Like I said, I wanted to be a zoologist all my life, but something brought me to criminal justice. My dad was a police officer. But I think that you have to be open to many different inputs from different people and different friends around you.

[08:03] CECILIA HERRERA: Good.

[08:06] JORGE MINJARES: What trait do you most admire in yourself?

[08:10] CECILIA HERRERA: What is the most.

[08:12] JORGE MINJARES: What trait do you most admire about yourself?

[08:15] CECILIA HERRERA: That traits. I am friendly. I am very honest. I love all kind of people. Diversity. Let me ask you something. Now that it's almost Covid pandemia, kind of overdose, do you have an experience that you remember about being at home, not in different places that we used to. What is the experience that you remember from the COVID pandemic?

[09:09] JORGE MINJARES: For example, I've played soccer all my life, and it was hard not to go back to the field and play with my friends and my teammates, but we would have Zoom workout meetings, which sounds really funny because it was. It was us in front of the computer, in front of our coach, and then he would yell out 50 crunches, 50 push ups, and we would be doing them there in front of a computer just by ourselves. Both my parents are teachers, so they were in separate rooms at the time. And then you would hear them yelling at one kid and then them yelling at another, and then I'm there doing my push ups online. But, yeah, it was an interesting experience, having to adapt to being all online. And during high school, my junior year, it was all online. It was hard going back senior year because the last time I was in high school, we were sophomores, so it was a big change because online just doesn't really fill in the void that you need to be filled. And. Tiempo de covidademia, fuemo.

[11:04] CECILIA HERRERA: Activilades como esconderolos de pascua cada quen and la ventana poner las contarlas tener cadacievida vida bueno de mala experience fo espriencia de apprendisage.

[11:35] JORGE MINJARES: See.

[11:40] CECILIA HERRERA: Now let me ask you about your friends talking about the COVID because I know that you are very friendly and you like to go with your friends to the different activities. How did you manage that?

[11:57] JORGE MINJARES: We would just call every. So once in a while. We never really hung out. We would go to, like, those drive by birthday parties. They had one for me when I was, I believe, 17, and then I didn't expect all my friends to be there, but they were all there. They were throwing stuff at me, and it was really fun. It was an interesting experience, having to deal with keeping a friendship together and dealing with the pandemic and, yeah, all in all, it was just an interesting way to adapt to the new life.

[12:52] CECILIA HERRERA: The surutamos mucho libre comimos reimos itambienla de Mexico. Now, talking about not only vacation, but about work in our lives, I see you very interested in doing what we are doing at the airport, assisting the asylum seekers. And I know it's my passion, but I see you very dynamic and very, very enthusiastic about doing that. Is the way I see it or is the way you feel it?

[13:40] JORGE MINJARES: I really enjoy working here at the airport. It opens your eyes to the many different people there are. We receive. I know one time we received an Olympic athlete from Russia before Russia invaded Ukraine. And he was telling me, he was like, yeah, I used to be an Olympic athlete, but we knew something was coming. We just had to get out of there. And then sometimes you receive people with very little knowledge, skills. We received a family from, I believe, Ecuador, that the parents were illiterate, but the children were the ones that were able to read. So you just receive a bunch of different people from different backgrounds. And I enjoy helping those people because at the end of the day, once you print out their tickets, once you get them to their final destination, their eyes light up and it's like the world open to them again. So I really enjoy that feeling.

[14:36] CECILIA HERRERA: It is good for me to know, because sometimes I think maybe I'm pushing too much, Jorge, and to the other youth. But I see you and I see them, that it's really a passion when you are able to help others in need, like you say, because they don't know what to do at the airport. And in reality, to me, it's very helpful. But I just wanted to know that it's also not only fun, but learning experience and feeling that you are doing something for others.

[15:19] JORGE MINJARES: Yes, like we say, there's never a dull moment at the airport. Every day brings a new challenge, something to overcome. And then now, before, it just used to Beuelo, you and I, and now we have a full team of airport volunteers makes it much more easier to handle with problems. Now we're only receiving very little people. But before when I was like 40, 50, every like 3 hours, then it was really hard, but now it's been easier. And then with their company, it's like you don't have to be at the airport by yourself. You have a group of friends there to talk to and to support you. If you need help, they'll come and help you.

[16:01] CECILIA HERRERA: And I know that talking about politics is very hard, but what do you think about the immigration? You know, current policies, do you affect your lifestyle, your thinking about the world? About. I don't know, what is your thinking about the immigration?

[16:22] JORGE MINJARES: I think in aspect to immigration that everybody, all humans should have a chance at something better. Some there's ways to do it, there's correct ways to do it. And yes, it's a long process, but they have to have that, that need, that drive to have something better. I was lucky enough to be born here in the United States and I haven't had to really fight for that freedom, that democracy that they've been like, yearning. Their countries may be bad, whether it be economic, political or social problems. They have their reasons for coming into the United States, and I think that their efforts should be valued. The United States was built on immigrants, on the backs of immigrants, like everybody says. And some people forget that. And one of my professors in UTEP was saying that how come politicians and high government leaders don't? They become sort of corrupt and they forget about the little guy, us. So then she was telling us, you just have to think, what would you do if you were in that situation? Would you forget how you came to be? Or would you just pretend like, oh, I've been here all my life, I haven't had to fight? Yeah, I think you should really, if you come to a powerful place in life, you should look back and think, how did I get here? Who got me here? How did I ask for help to get to where I am right now? I think that all migrants have a chance, or deserve at least a chance to come into the United States. How do you feel about immigration? Do you have the same ideas or do they vary?

[18:23] CECILIA HERRERA: When I am there, I just think that there is a need in front of me, and if I know that way to assist them, I can do it. And I feel very respectful for, for lovesion. Sino confianza, pero sinol vidarke I Personas and el systema politico and el systema financiero and el systema de migration. Porque.

[20:00] JORGE MINJARES: Sl el mejor punto de tutrabah.

[20:10] CECILIA HERRERA: Soy organizadora. Soy unificadora. Ime gusta. Sibeona. Necessidad busco. Quien e son los collaboradores? Siempre. Dio. El what? Who? Where? When? El cuat poseidad. Quien pueda yosola? No puedo sacer los. Like in English, we say we look for partnerships, and I think that's my strongest point, to form coalitions. So because this has been working for me for many, many years, and that's one of the things I am very proud of myself, because forming coalitions is like my strength.

[21:04] JORGE MINJARES: As someone who's had so much experience in the humanitarian, in the social work field, what advice do you have for someone that's barely going in, barely, as they say, dipping their toes in the water to feel, what advice do you have for them?

[21:21] CECILIA HERRERA: See, my advice to like, because my background is social worker counselor, but my advice is to really think about what you can offer. Que la contribas, discover your gifts, discovered. Once you discover that your purpose, then you become a good social worker, or maybe some different profession. Como leboya yuda tenemo sundisho in westro campo del travaco, socia novamo sadar le el pescado la Persona. Lo vamos ayudar aquese pacomo pescarlo. Porquia mi consejo primero no pienzes. I see you are pursuing criminal justice degree, and I see you very strong on that. I see you are very calm, very sensitive, compassionate, and I always think that criminal justice is hand by hand with humanitarian organizations too. Do you think you can manage that?

[23:35] JORGE MINJARES: I think I can, because I. Whenever we find a, or whenever we receive a new family, I try to put myself in their shoes. I think, how would I feel if I'm in a foreign country? I don't speak the language, I don't read the language, I'm scared. I almost have no money. I try to think how they would feel, and I try to treat them with the utmost respect, dignity, not with pity, not be like, oh, I'm so sorry, do you need this? Do you need this? I just treat them with respect, like human beings. Again, in the airport, a lot of the, at the beginning, most of the airlines were very anti immigration. They were like, why are they coming? Why don't they speak English? They would refuse, oftentimes to help them. So that's when we came in and we had to explain to them, this is they're from, let's say, Nicaragua. They don't speak the language. They're scared. They just need help finding a ticket. So then oftentimes you'd ask them, how would you feel if you were in their same situation? And then they would become more compassionate. So I think you have to mix a little bit of sweetness with firmness. You can't always be nice and caring. Sometimes you have to be a little firm. For example, the taxi drivers outside in the airport, they still, to this day, take advantage of the migrants. They charge them 30, $40 to go 1 mile, which is outrageous. So oftentimes, yes, I would get in verbal altercations with the taxi drivers, never physical. But you'd have to ask them, make them feel guilty about charging them $30 to $40 to go 1 mile. But, yeah, I believe that criminal justice and humanitarian goes hand in hand. And oftentimes people that work in criminal justice often forget that. They forget to put themselves in that person's shoes when they have a crisis, when they have some sort of. Not like an altered mindset, they forget to put themselves in their shoes and ask, okay, why are they feeling this way? What can I do to tone it down? Not scale up the argument, but to diffuse it? But, yeah, I think that criminal justice and humanitarian needs go hand in hand with each other. How did you come up with the plan there at the airport?

[26:18] CECILIA HERRERA: Yes, because I started receiving very sporadic arrivals from Las Cruces Shelter, the hospitality shelter, and from local shelters here in El Paso. But I saw exactly what you described. A lot of abuse, a lot of the. I will say the airport agents, they were, like, overwhelmed and didn't know how to react with so many people. So they lost temper very often. Yesidaz de quenoco metieran injusticias ena yudara los in migrantesion, Pagano, Peru. Okay, here, what we need to do. So I started making the plan of having a meeting point, having a space for us, having the drivers, just bringing the immigrants to us, and then from there to guide them and not to see them, like, lost and wondering what to do. So that. And it started, like, almost two years ago, and it's growing and it's growing. And I know now I see good relationship, but like I said before, forming coalition. Forming partnership. Who's going to help me? Okay. Airport authorities, first of all, I need to present a plan and tell them also what will be the benefit for them. So I presented that like, a win win situation. When you present that, then you receive what you are asking for. I was offering a very humane, ordained, organized traffic inside the airport. And because of that, they say, oh, okay, sounds good, Ceci. So, you know, you went with me. When I was there the first time, it was polio and me, and they offer many things, but then they stopped, and little by little, but again, I respect bureaucracy. Respecto las authoridades, Perono Paro. It's one of the things that I am also very persistent. I insisted, insisted on the. And when I invited you to go to the airport, it seems like if you really got the idea immediately, what was your first impression when you were there?

[29:56] JORGE MINJARES: Well, my first impression was, how has this not been done before? Like what you said, everything falls into place almost perfectly. Yes, there's some are. There are some obstacles in the road, but you move them. Somehow you move them, and then it just all falls into place perfectly. I thought, this place is really for me, because there's never a dull moment. You're always learning something new, whether it be an experience or whether you learn something from a family. For example, there was this one family one time, it was a family of five from, I believe, Colombia. The father, he was very nervous, very scared, and the mother was also very nervous and very scared. But they went to the restroom, hit her family and her children, and he came up to me and talked to me. And then he's like, hey, so I want to start learning English. What's the best way to learn it? So I directed him to Google translate. It's not the best, but it is one of the resources we have. And then he was like, oh, okay. And then he was asking me how to. He said, which is, how do you ask for a bottle of water? So I told him, may I have a bottle of water, please? And he was repeating it and repeating it and repeating it, and then through the whole process, we were printing out tickets, adding in the infants. And then at the end, when I said goodbye to them in TSA, he asks me almost perfectly. He's like, how do I. He says, can I have a bottle of water, please? And then I smile, and then he smiles, and we hug. I know. It's just a great moment. It's little moments like that that really inspire you to keep going every day. And there's some moments where you feel like, this is really hard. I can't do this anymore. Like, yesterday, there was this two adult males from Venezuela, and they wanted to go to Boston. They only had about $350 per person, and the flights started at, like, 400. 8490 a ticket. So we tried everything. We spent a good two, maybe 3 hours with them, and finally they were able to. We had this ticket in hand. It was for. It had three different flight changes, but we were trying to buy it online, and it was taking forever. And then when we refreshed the page, it came out that the tickets had almost tripled in price. So they were very discouraged. So was my team and I. We were very discouraged. We called the father from their shelter, and he came and picked them up. We gave them a few more options to go in the bus. But, yeah, yesterday was a really hard day. But you just have ups and downs and days like that. And I think that having that, those different high points and low points in a job is critical to keep your peak interested, to not stay stagnant, but to fluctuate and have variety in your daily life.

[33:11] CECILIA HERRERA: And how do you manage that kind of frustration?

[33:17] JORGE MINJARES: Well, with that kind of frustration, I kind of look towards the good days. And I think, like, that family from Colombia, how the dad was adamant in practicing his English. And I think, see, that is why I do what I do. It brings me joy to see other people have joy to came where they came from, all the violence, everything, and finally make it to the United States. And then him learning the language like that, it was really inspiring. So I just try to look for the good days in life. Like, when there's days like yesterday. Where would you say your happy place is?

[33:59] CECILIA HERRERA: Happy.

[34:00] JORGE MINJARES: Your happy place? Like, where do you go when you're feeling bad? Like, what do you think about mentally, your happy place?

[34:07] CECILIA HERRERA: I always go to the seminario Franciscano with them because I have good conversations with father, the priest there, with fry, and so I can talk to them about what happened. And then we start making plans about how to do things at the church. But it gives me peace.

[34:39] JORGE MINJARES: What advice do you have to my children's children in about 50 years.

[34:48] CECILIA HERRERA: Just to continue the legacy of making. Trying to make of this world better? I think that we are. Every day, we learn how to improve everything. Taking care of little, small things, starting at home, like putting things together, like even taking care of the trash, how you can recycle things like that. Just show them how to continue this or better. Do you think you are learning how to.

[35:48] JORGE MINJARES: I think so. I think with every generation, we have to do better than the one previous to ours. Like you said, we have to leave our legacy behind. And hopefully it's a really good legacy. They have to know how to manage situations. They have to look back at their family history and see that their family came from a long line of hard workers who never gave up, who came to this country to work. They have to value hard work, and I think that they do have to, again, look back at their ancestors and find strength in their roots. How would you like to be remembered?

[36:45] CECILIA HERRERA: I would like to be remembered as a strong person, but at the same time, compassionate. Fuerte, pero sintiendo compassion. Porotros ques importante conservaro. Preservar el nuaje espanol en nuestros nuevas.

[37:19] JORGE MINJARES: Que neraciones yocro ques importante preservar nostra. Nostra. Nostra. Lengua porque autro mundo. La mundo. El mundo americano. El mundo mexicano. Comoyo. I'm Mexican american. Toda me familias mexicana. Perona siaquien los estas unidos mexicano. Americano. Notecientes como completo. Si estas in Mexico, in between two worlds, like we say. And I think it is important to preserve your native language because it gives you, like I said, a key to your past, to who your family was. You find the strength from both besides your family in Mexico, how they fought to get here. You can start a new life in the United States with your family, but it is important to preserve your native language because as being bilingual, it opens many doors to different possibilities. When I used to work in the service industry at Olive Garden, the manager couldn't speak Spanish. So then he would ask me, he's like, hey. He's like, Jorge, can you come translate for me? Like, yes, sir, I can translate for you. Again, it just opens a lot of doors and a lot of possibilities to help different people, like, get to work at the airport. It wouldn't be possible if you weren't bilingual. Yes, you can use Google Translate, but it's not the same as getting that feeling of your own native tongue and sort of embracing the other person. They feel more at home when you speak Spanish and you can translate here and there. Again, most of our job is translation between the airport authorities and our guests and the migrants, but again, it just builds a bridge, being able to speak multiple languages between your native language and your new language. What experience did you have when you first came to the United States?

[39:50] CECILIA HERRERA: My first experience was not good because I was already licencial and trabajo social. And I say, oh, what I am going to do now. I knew how to write English perfectly, but I have problems pronunciating la pronunciacion, pero si no que discriminacion pero nolato memara. I was making a presentation about my field in social work counseling and I said I was going to pronounce denial la palabra negacion. And I say it, conmuccio or guillo. Daniel. Daniel. And one person was laughing, laughing, laughing. So the instructor was, you know, was not happy for that. And I said, oh, no, thank you. Thank you. And, you know, and I told talk to that person. Call him by name. Mira, tea, gradesco Musso. Okay, thanks. God, I know how to write. Mira, this is the word that I want to say. Can you repeat it for me so I can learn from you? And you know, this moment, I will never forget it. So this is important because now you are teaching me. I'm learning from you. Thank you. Apprenti que depende comulo toma, tomara centurmal. So it's always like, stando muy firme no perder mi dentidad menos dehar Kalian meagas and tirque perdia miauto, pero antiando las Personas.