My parents migrated from Jalisco, Mexico in the 1990s to New York for a better life due to the lack of opportunities in Mexico through a chain of migration. My dad was the youngest out of 10 siblings and his family grew up very poor in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco. He knew that the only way for him to succeed in life was for him to move to New York and meet up with his brothers who had migrated 4 years prior to him. My mother, on the other hand, came to New York with her sister when she was 24 years old. In Mexico, she had gone to beauty school to learn to cut and style hair. She actually did not want to come to the U.S because she liked Mexico but she came with her older sister to help her raise her 5 daughters. Eventually, my parents meet each other in New Rochelle, New York and got married. Through everything, my parents always kept faith in God and most importantly in the Virgen of Guadalupe. They believed that she was the reason for them making a good living here and for the opportunities they were given. When I was born they always told me that if I ever feel bad about something or if I’m having a bad day, was to pray to the Virgen and good things would happen. This is why when my parents bought their first home they asked my aunt from Mexico to send a big hand-made imagine of the Virgen of Guadalupe (the one from this image) to frame and to hang on the wall of the front hallway of the house because to them, she was the reason for their success in America. My mom added pictures of me and my siblings so that the Virgen will always protect us. 

– K

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant