Celia Immigrant Interview Paper

For the purposes of this paper, I interviewed Celia Cervantes, who is considered an immigrant who came to the United States from Guatemala and attended the K-12 schooling system as an undocumented student. Celia is also considered a first-generation college student, since her mother and father did not attend any college. Celia Cervantes immigrated to the United States from Guatemala with her mother and two of her five siblings in July of 2000, the summer before her 5th grade year. Celia’s mother, Aura, made multiple trips between America and Guatemala to bring all five of her children to the United States. Celia entered the U.S. schooling system in Southern California at age 10 in the 5th grade. Celia graduated from high school in 2008

from Guatemala, she came first to America with her mother and her two youngest siblings. Her family wanted to leave Guatemala due to the tense and dangerous political climate, however her father did not want to leave their country of origin. Celia’s mother, Aura, made the choice to move herself and her children to America and leave her husband behind. Over the next few months, her mother would take two separate trips back to Guatemala, each time bringing back another one of Celia’s siblings. While her mother was gone, Celia stayed with an Aunt, Claudia, whom she had never met prior to coming to the country. Also, while her mother was gone, Celia’s aunt worked full-time to provide for the household, so Celia was often left at home alone to care for her little brother and sister and her aunt’s two children. While it was never outright mentioned to her, Celia felt that her mother and aunt stressed the importance of taking care of her siblings first over her schooling. If there was a time where Celia had to choose between going to a school event, doing homework or watching her siblings, she felt like she never truly had a choice, she was to stay home and fulfill her familial duties. In being the eldest daughter of the family, with no father to provide, her mother worked to provide financially to the family and Celia stepped in for her siblings as their surrogate mother. Celia’s mother and aunt also expected her to care for the house and cook for the children while they were absent. This also made it especially difficult for Celia to keep up with her studies, since these responsibilities were laid upon her when she was just in the 5th grade. Celia mentioned that as she moved on to each grade, she felt like she was falling farther and farther behind, and her grades reflected this