Fredy Salguero, a maintenance technician at Playa del Rey in Hermosa Beach, shares his story of immigration, naturalization, and his American story.
Salguero is more than a maintenance technician, he is a multilingual professional whose days of being an American date back only 15 years. Salguero moved to the United States in 1979, at the age of 10, after his mother married an American citizen. Because of his mother’s citizenship, Salguero was able to obtain a green card, which gave him access to education, healthcare, and the benefits of being an American.
At the age of 18, Salguero left his home with mother and stepfather to pursue independence in California. His first long-term job was as a German Chef in a restaurant in Glendale, CA. After 11 years of working as a chef, Salguero pursue computer engineering. This career did not keeps Salguero’s attention or interest, which caused him to pursue other opportunities.
While searching for something new, a friend asked Salguero about his abilities to do maintenance work. To which Salguero replied, “what’s that?” His friend urged him to apply and since, he has been a maintenance technician.
During his explorations and travel, Salguero was never detained or questioned about his legal status in the United States. That is because he has never been considered an illegal immigrant.
With his green card, Salguero was legally allowed to live and work in the United States. However, his wife did not have “papers” as Salguero described it. This meant that Salguero had to now consider the possibility that his wife could be deported at any time. This could also mean that his children would have to grow up without their mother.
In order to keep his family together, Salguero turned over his green card for citizenship in 1999.
Salguero states, “not everyone has the same opportunities to become citizens.” Salguero affirms knowledge that there are people living in the United States that do so illegally. However, he states that if these people wish to protest for immigration reform they should do so waving the American flag and not the flags of the countries that they are from.
Photograph on Examiner.com
Salguero shares that it saddens him to see and know of people who are living in this country illegally and have to worry about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) coming to their jobs. He states, “people just want to work in peace.”
by Slate
In a state where there are an estimated population 6.8%, it is increasingly common to see protests and rallies at local government buildings. According to #Not1More, queer and trans identified people rallied in front of the Santa Ana City Jail as a protest to the detention of LGBTQ undocumented immigrants.
When asked about his thoughts on undocumented immigrants, Salguero stated, “it is not fair to them if they do not know… but the parents have to tell them… because they need papers in order to go to school and to work.”