Lupita Manana

The middle section of Lupita Mañana focuses on several new concerns the migrants encounter and must learn to navigate.

One principle that emerges swiftly and clearly is that all help comes at a price. While they knew they might have to pay a hefty fee if they employed a coyote to lead them across the border, Salvador and Lupita discover that they must provide something in return for any benevolence they receive. The first painful incident involves Lupita surrendering the silver cross her father gave her and Salvador giving up the inscribed pocketknife that was a gift from Dorotea. They hand these treasures to Bartolo, who hides the travelers in a produce truck to cross the border. When they approach Hector Esposito, a railroad employee, to ask for help and information, he takes them to his relatives in Colton, California, where they get work as a dishwasher and chambermaid—with one-third of their salary perpetually going to Hector. They express surprise about this and are told to be grateful since without Hector’s help they probably would have been captured and deported. When they ultimately arrive at Consuelo’s home, they are told they are unwelcome until it dawns on their aunt that they can pay her $140 a month for room and board. When their Uncle Hermilio mails money to Carmela on Lupita’s behalf, he keeps the change from the postage. Even her eight-year-old cousin Irela forces Lupita to buy her an ice cream sundae in exchange for guiding her to stores where she can buy clothes better suited for a girl. Beatty’s continued focus on these exchanges indicates they are standard expressions of an accepted cultural reality that might surprise and dismay those outside Mexican American society.

These chapters also introduce and explore the concept of pochos and pochas: American citizens of Mexican descent. The slang word “pocho” can be translated as “poser” or “in the middle,” which implies such individuals are not fully Mexican and not fully American. The narrative illustrates that there are real distinctions between the Mexican nationals and pochos. Migrant Mexicans typically fear pochos might take advantage of them and even turn them over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which has since come to be known as ICE—Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Lupita is stunned that pochos might turn Mexicans over to the INS and asks Concha, another unauthorized immigrant chambermaid, why they would do such a thing. Concha replies that pochos turn them in on a whim or because of any casual disagreement, and she says, “I am always afraid. […] Day and night I am afraid. Do not be bold. Pray for yourself and be careful” (101). When a pocha waitress warns the brother and sister that INS is conducting a raid, Lupita eventually decides that blanket judgments cannot be made about pochos as a group. Because of Linda, Lupita believes that “[s]i, there were good pochos” (107).

For Lupita and Salvador, there are several new sources of fear on the US side of the border, such as (sleeping) rattlesnakes and gringos who chase and shoot at them. Their greatest constant fear, however, is la migra, “immigration,” the Spanish term for INS agents. The continual influx of Mexican migrants into the US means the routes traveled and work destinations of these immigrants are also hotbeds of la migra enforcement. The quick test that la migra uses to determine whether a person is an immigrant or a pocho is the ability to speak English. Beatty makes it clear that immigrants are constantly engaged in a cat-and-mouse game to catch and deport unauthorized immigrants. The constant possibility of arrest by la migra is the backdrop of all decisions made by the travelers. Thus, they cannot ride public buses, cannot go to the post office to mail money to Mexico, and cannot draw attention to themselves in public places. La migra continually seeks out workplaces and events where they are most likely to encounter groups of unauthorized immigrants.

Readers might note that Beatty discusses only Mexican migrants. The author never mentions citizens of other Central and South American countries, whose experiences in coming to America would be quite similar and also might pose some interesting distinctions.

These chapters also record Lupita’s encounters with a number of American realities that are quite distinct from the life she knew in Ensenada. Some of these, like freight trains, highway overpasses, and tunnels, have to do with an advanced infrastructure. Equally startling to Lupita, however, are the cultural shifts in behavior and expectations. Her first pocho employer tells her there is no such thing as an afternoon siesta in the US. The way gringos treat one another and go about their daily routines surprises Lupita as well:

These gringos did not smile at one another or stop to chat. They seemed to go about their business as quickly and seriously as possible. Even eating in Señor Rodrigo’s café, which should have been a great pleasure, was speedily done. Si, Concha was correct in saying that gringos were very strange indeed (102).

These middle chapters demonstrate that bad things can happen very quickly in the migrant community, such as when the Rosarios, whom the Torres children were depending on for guidance, are suddenly arrested. While working for the Espositos, the dependable livelihood they are building swiftly comes undone when la migra raids the cafe and hotel. This makes all relationships tentative. Possessions can also disappear with no recourse, such as when Lupita’s new clothes purchased in Colton must be left behind when she walks to Indio.