Ignacio Pérez García

Ignacio Pérez García

Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee: Ignacio Pérez was born in 1924, in Rodeo, Durango, México; he was the oldest of four brothers; an orphan at the age of seven, he grew up with his maternal grandmother; he worked as a shepherd when he was a boy; in 1949, he crossed the México-United States border to work as an undocumented laborer; after a week, he was hired as a bracero; he worked in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas picking cotton and harvesting sugar beets.


Summary of Interview: Mr. Pérez recalls crossing the México-United States border in 1949; later, he was hired as a bracero in Rio Vista, a processing center in Socorro, Texas; he worked in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas; additionally, he describes the farming activities of braceros, their work hours, the housing provided for them, and the food they prepared; he recalls the wages he was paid, the different contracts he had, and how he sent money to his family in México; furthermore, he relates what braceros did during the weekends, and how U.S. citizens in town treated them; he expresses his feelings about the program and the benefits of having worked in the United States.

Martínez, Laureano

Pérez García, Ignacio

2003-05-27

Bracero

Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso

spa

Ignacio Pérez García

Martínez, Laureano

Institute of Oral History, The University of Texas at El Paso

No

Mini DIsc

45:49

24 bit
96 k

Martínez, Laureano

Pérez García, Ignacio

Durango, Durango, México

Perez_Garcia_DGO025