Isabel: Just to start, I wanted to know how old you were when you migrated
to the US.


Dan: I was three years old.


Isabel: Three years old. And what caused your family to migrate?


Dan: It was work, basically.


Isabel: And you crossed with a work visa or family visa?


Dan: It was a family visa, yeah, my mom and my sister.


Isabel: I know you went to the US for three years and then went back to
Mexico. How long were you in Mexico the second time?


Dan: For about two years, three years.


Isabel: Two years, three years. And then at point you were six or seven?


Dan: Right.


Isabel: Then on your second trip to the US, do you remember migrating to
the US a little better?


Dan: Yes. It was on a working visa. It was with my family, my mom’s visa.
And I studied middle school with the fifth grade. And I still have all my,
how do you call it, school reports. Yeah. I still have all those.


Isabel: Can you tell me about school, what teachers were like, what your
friends were like?


Dan: Well, at the beginning I remember there was a lot of ... Well, now
it's called bullying. Back then, it was just making fun of. ... because I
didn't know how to speak English well. I didn't know how to communicate. I
didn't know how to make myself understood. It was just a lot of language
barrier, I would say.


Isabel: Was the school helpful with language, or did you have to learn it
on your own?


Dan: Well, high school that's when I got ESL, which was English as a Second
Language. And I remember teachers tried to help. That's when I got the
help. But before then, it was just hardly.


Isabel: So they didn't have any ESL for elementary or middle school?


Dan: No.


Isabel: Wow. How did you pick up English, then?


Dan: Well, just hanging out with my classmates. And my sister was with me
and my cousin, so we would make our own little group and we would hang out
with all the Hispanic guys and then we'd encourage each other to just start
talking English. We had to start somehow.


Isabel: And when you said there was bullying because of the language
barrier, was that why you formed those groups with people who also spoke
Spanish?


Dan: Well, yeah. You feel more comfortable with Hispanic people. They try
not to make fun of you because they know how it feels. They've being in
that situation before. We try to help each other and just stick together.


Isabel: Right. And I'm sorry, what city and town was this in, just so we
can repeat it?


Dan: This was probably, I would say, when I was in fifth grade, when I was
in eighth, ninth, ten, eleven, and twelve.


Isabel: Okay. And during that time, did you like school or what did you
like to do in your free time?


Dan: Back then, it was very famous going roller skating.


Isabel: Oh, really?


Dan: We would go roller skating, my sister and myself and my cousin. Then,
I will play soccer as well and just going out to movies. It was not much to
do back then because you needed transportation. It was far sometimes, so
they will have to come and pick us up, but we managed.


Isabel: You finished high school in the US and you started working then.
Can you tell me a bit about working in the US, any memories you have?


Dan: Well, I remember when I was at my former job as a customer service
agent, I feel so proud due to the fact that I was sitting next to college
students that studied so many years in college and I was earning more than
them because of a language difference and a shift differential. I was like,
I didn't have to study that much and I'm earning more. I guess it was one
of the satisfactions, but obviously, you have to work for it.


Isabel: Right. And at this point, you did have a resident status?


Dan: That is correct, yes. I had the permit.


Isabel: So you didn't have to deal with any of the fear.


Dan: Yeah. Right.


Isabel: Did you know people who were undocumented or lived with that fear?


Dan: Yes. All the Hispanic community, at one point you meet somebody that
it is undocumented and they don't have the proper documentation to work.
Yeah, you can see them being a little bit afraid of committing a crime,
running a red light or speeding because for any reason, they might pull you
over and your dream might be over.


Isabel: Right. Speaking of the dreams and what people are hoping to do in
the US, did you have any dreams, what you wanted to accomplish in the US at
that age?


Dan: Well, it's like any kid that wants your mom to be in a very stable
situation. I always wanted to buy a house for my mom and just give her
peace of mind. But at one point, I tried to do it, but she always lived
with my sisters. But I tried. I didn't accomplish it. I was not able to
make it, but it was part of my plans.


Isabel: Yeah. What do you think were some of the obstacles in terms of
achieving that next level that you were hoping to?


Dan: Well, at one point everybody—when I said everybody, I'm talking about
my mom, my dad, and my sisters. We were able to qualify to be American
citizens after so long being a permanent resident. And in my mind, it was
like, "Why am I going to be showing a visa going to my own country?" That
was the only reason that I didn't want to go for it. Now I regret it, but I
just didn't want to do it because, I guess, lack of information, not enough
information that I was or I wasn't going to need that. And time went by and
I regret it now.


Isabel: And so you were mentioning at this time that you didn't have as
much of a fear of authorities because you were a resident. And you said you
didn't want to have a visa for your own country. So you're saying when you
go back to Mexico, you were going to have a visa. You wanted to be a
Mexican citizen—


Dan: Right.


Isabel: ... and a US resident. But then you said you regret it. Do you mind
going into your last time in the US when you had your company and then when
you were undocumented? Maybe what brought you back to Mexico and then how
you crossed the border for the last time?


Dan: Well, when I crossed the border the last time, that was back in 2009.
I was married already and I had my child. My wife was pregnant with my
daughter. The violence and the economic situation here was to a point that
it was not standable no more. My dad came over. He was an American citizen
by then, and he drove us to the border. And I crossed the border in an
automobile with my sister and my nephews. And just the officer were like,
"You American citizen?" "Yes, I am." "Where were you born?" "Dallas,
Texas." And he says, "What hospital?" "Parkland." And said, "Okay. Go, go,
go." They didn't check anything, and that was after 9/11, which the
security shouldn't be a little tighter? And then my wife came across the
border with my father and they didn't have any issues. We didn't have the
necessity of walking down the mountain or going through ... risk our lives
like other people.


Isabel: Right. Would you recommend migrating even now when there is the
possibility of risking of your life and more dangerous paths? Or do you
think it's only worth migrating if you can do it safely?


Dan: It's worth migrating if you can do it safely because your life is not
worth it. Walking through the night and long distance, I haven't
experienced it, but I have friends that they told me that they encounter
wild pigs and snakes and they're not here anymore. Just try to go ahead and
have a better life. In here, in Mexico, my advantage is that I speak
English. No matter how old I am, I still have a few doors open. I struggle,
but I can manage, and I can survive. I can go by. But all those people that
they really need to have a better life, whatever they're going to spend on
crossing the border, risking their lives, they should invest that money
into their education and then they have a better option of having a better
job and make themselves worth that they really want to be worth.


Isabel: Yeah. I think that's important because it can be a really dangerous
journey it is what stories seem to say. When you got to the US for the last
time, you went through car and didn't have any issues. How did you start
running your own company? Do you mind telling me a bit about that?


Dan: Sure. Obviously, back then I didn't have no documents. I start working
with this guy as a helper. He was a contractor for Home Depot putting the
countertops, taking off the Formica, the wood countertops and putting
marble or granite. I was doing that with him for about a year, but we were
looking how other people in that same house were putting hardwood floors,
painting, and doing this and that. I was gathering their info. It was like,
"Hey, this is your own business?" "Yeah." "Okay. How much do you charge the
square footage of our engineering wood floors?" "Okay. I'll let you have it
for $1.50." So I start getting all that information. And at one point, the
guy that I was working with, he moved. He bought his own house, but it was
way too far. So he invited me over and he said, "Hey, I'll pay you rent on
an apartment nearby, but I need your help." And I was like, "No." And at
that moment, I printed my own business cards and I knew how to paint, so I
was painting houses. I was painting inside interiors, outside exteriors.
And I started selling out other people's jobs. For instance, I would say,
"Hey, I'm looking you're remodeling your house. I can do the engineering
hardwood floors for $2.50." And I said, "Okay, do you have a catalog?" So I
will run to ... By then, I knew where the hardware stores were, the
outlets, and they will give me a good rate. If the square footage was
$1.00, I would resell it for $1.50 or $1.15. And that how I was making out
my money. I would give somebody else the job, making money out of them, and
just making money out of the material. That's how I was making money. All
of a sudden, when I least expected, I was doing electricity, I was doing
plumbing, I was doing the sprinkler system. I was just doing pretty much
everything around the house, concrete, shingles, roofing. I was subscribed
with an insurance company. I believe it was Allstate Farm where all the
damages would give it to me and they will pay me straight up. I was there.


Isabel: Wow. That was just being so resourceful and connected with people,
putting it together kind of like the American hustle.


Dan: Definitely. Yes. Yeah.


Isabel: Yeah, that's really cool. Going off of that, one thing we're
focusing on in the interviews is talking about how you may have been shaped
by the US and by Mexico. Do you think that any values or behavior or
mindsets in America shaped who you are or what you have accomplished or
done?


Dan: Yes. I'm very organized. Obviously, that came from my parents. I'm
very perfectionist. Yes, definitely. In here, if you go around the
buildings anywhere, pick a street, whenever they paint a building, you can
see a bunch of dripping on the floor on the sidewalks. That's where I make
the difference in my job. If I do something, I do it better, and people
like it. And even treat with a person. You say "Hi," you say, "Good
afternoon," "Good morning," and you get yourself to know by other people as
an educated, respected person. Not everybody's like this, and I learn it
from the States. You treat people the way you want to be treated. And
that's basically where I got my reputation from. You treat everybody the
way you want to be treated no matter where they're at, no matter who you
are, no matter who they are. That's my motto.


Isabel: I think that's incredible and I think it shows in the company you
were able to make. Could you tell me, then, you were using these values,
you were creating a company, you were creating jobs for other people in the
US, and then you were deported and had this experience with law
enforcement. Can you describe that for me?


Dan: Yes. It was this lady where I went over and gave her an estimate. And
she offered to give me her credit card to go ahead and buy the material.
When I bought the material, it was more money that we quoted, but I told
her that it could vary. I gave her all the material. I gave her all the
receipts, and she was not happy about it. She went over and accused me of
credit card abuse. I got an attorney and it was like, "Hey, don't worry
about it. I already got you a deal. It's only going to be 10 days in jail.
And it's going to be only weekends." And like, "Okay." Immigration doesn't
work on weekends, so I will turn myself in on a Friday night and then I
will come out on Monday 12:01 in the morning so it will count four days. I
turned myself in and when I was about to get ready to get out, I called the
guards and say, "Hey, I need to take a shower because I'm about to go to
work." So they let me out. Took my shower, went back to my cell. And then
about twelve midnight, they called me up and say, "Hey, Cabrero, come
down." So I went down. They're like, "Man, I cannot let you out because you
have an INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] hold." I'm like,
"What?" They were like, "Yeah, you have an immigration hold." "No, not
really." That's when I lost my house, I lost my trucks, my trailers, my
tools, my home, everything.


Isabel: You were living with your family?


Dan: I was already with my wife and my kids at my own property. I was at my
own house. She had to let everything go. Yeah.


Isabel: I'm curious, you were doing time in jail for this credit card
infraction that this woman accused you of on the weekends. Is that
something that normally happens?


Dan: Well, the attorney that I got, he knew that I didn't have documents at
that moment, so he's just like, "Okay. Well, I'm going to try to make a
deal." He made a deal of—there's a title that you call this, work
release—that you turn yourself in on the weekends and then you go back to
work throughout the week. And then you turn back on the weekend and turn
yourself in. And that's what is supposed to happen, but I don't know how in
the world they knew I was there and I don't know what time they put the
hold on me. And then when I got there ... Well, when I tried to get out,
they told me I couldn't. They said, "But don't worry. If they don't come to
pick you up, INS, by 8:00 in the morning, we'll let you go." And I had my
truck, everything on the parking lot. By, I guess it was 8:01, immigration
came and then the lady at the reception say, "Hey, you want me to call the
other guys?” He's like, "No, I just came for that guy." And yeah, it was a
little bit rude. I treat them the way he was treating me. He was asking me
all these sorts of questions. I told him to talk to my attorney. And then
we got to Dallas, Texas at immigration offices, and I got left there all
night, basically, until I started yelling and screaming, and they said,
"Oh! We forgot about you." They took me to a local jail to stay there
overnight. And then the next morning, that's when they just told me I was
going to be able to see an immigration judge. I think I waited for a couple
of months, three months. I turned myself in May ... it was May the 14th. My
father passed away May the 21st, and I was not there. Just a bunch of
things ran through my mind. But when I went to see the judge, they told me,
"Hey, you were told that they were going to give you five years straight if
you would come back." And I served two years and a half. I was two years
and a half in jail at the border. It was Raymondville by Harlingen. I was
there working out, building myself up. I had to see the bright side. You
cannot focus on the negative things or else you get destroyed. I always try
to joke about sad situations because if I focus into the negative things,
nothing good comes out of it.


Isabel: Right. No. That is a really ... Honestly, I can only imagine a
really difficult time. You thought you were going in for a small ten days
in jail—you're going to keep on working, still have your job, your house,
your family. And the next thing you know, everything's being ripped from
you. And that's honestly ... Thank you for sharing. That's a really
difficult thing to rehash. That is one of the stories we're trying to tell
is great people who are contributing to the US economy who are acting as
full citizens, doing everything right like you were, and doing everything
... You know what I mean? Living a great American lifestyle.


Dan: I still have my tax returns, everything. I was about to burn them up a
couple of days ago because I found them. And I was like, I don't know if I
should burn them down or what. And it was like, "Eh, I'm just going to keep
them."


Isabel: Yeah. Doing that and having that perfectionist tendency.
Everything's perfectly done. And then serving time, doing what you were
supposed to do, serving time for the crime, for whatever this person
accused you of. And then because of your undocumented status, that becoming
... pretty much serving time for a crime you didn't commit is kind of like
how we were seeing it. Taking someone who is in no way a criminal and then
treating them as such.


Dan: Yeah. Because it was her word against mine when I said, "Hey, she gave
me an authorization to purchase all the material." And then showing the
judge a sheet of paper that I quoted her how much would it be plus the
material and that not being enough proof that she authorized it. They
showed the videos at Home Depot where I was buying the material and I was
like, "Hey, I didn't buy nothing for myself. Everything is for you. This is
the receipts. How many items are in the receipts? This is how many items
are in your house." I didn't charge nothing more, nothing less, and I told
you, "I have no control over the prices. If you went over the…," I would
say, "the quoted price verbally, reality was another, but I had no control
over that."


Isabel: Right. And I feel like that also is fairly common when buying
material for a house. There's the budget and then there's what it actually
ends up being. Then that's not in your control.


Dan: Right.


Isabel: Yeah. That sounds ... I wonder, do you think she knew of your
undocumented status? Do you think she knew what this would mean?


Dan: She found out because my mom, my sisters went to talk to her.


Isabel: Wow.


Dan: They told her and said, "Hey, he didn't do nothing wrong and you're
accusing him of something that he didn't commit. How much do you want to
just take off the charges, just say that it was a miscommunication?" And my
mom told her that consequences of what could happen and she didn't care.
She proceeded.


Isabel: Who has that kind of hate in their heart? I don't know. That's just
feels really selfish on her part.


Dan: Right. I don't know what she was going through. I don't know what she
thought, but I was very clear. And then I tried to tell her, "If you don't
want the job, I can return the items. I have the receipts and they can put
back on your credit card. It will be no problem." And when I saw that she
was really going through it, I told her, I said, "You know what? I can pay
you some money for wasting your time, for the hustle, and just to be there
at the wrong time, at the wrong moment if you want to call it that way."
And she said, "No, I don't want anything out of you." I don't know. But at
that moment, that's when my mom and my sisters went and talked to her. They
went and talked to her even though the attorney told her not to get in
touch with her. It can be misconception, a misunderstanding, but they went
over and did it anyway. But she didn't want to budge out.


Isabel: It sounds like when you presented your case, there was video
evidence, you had all the receipts. Do you think that there was any bias?
Do you think there was any discrimination because of your identity?


Dan: She was Hispanic as well.


Isabel: She was Hispanic as well?


Dan: Yeah. Well, she was half American, half Hispanic. She didn't know how
to speak Spanish, but I believe her last name was Hispanic. But I just
don't know. I cannot say anything on her behalf.


Isabel: Right. Or the judge's.


Dan: Right. But the only thing I can say was what it went through my mind,
what I went through, what I did, what I tried to do.


Isabel: Right. Right. And now that we have that. Yeah, that's a really
important story to share. Then you had to do two and a half years?


Dan: Two and a half years.


Isabel: And then you were also, before that, held in an office, detained
for three months?


Dan: About three months, right.


Isabel: And then held in a prison for two and a half years?


Dan: Yeah.


Isabel: So, then what started as a ten-day holding turned into a long
period of your life. Do you remember any of the conditions or how you were
treated either in the detainment or in the prison?


Dan: Well, they were tents. It was over where it was very common that it
was heard, Maricopa in Arizona. I don't know if you heard.


Isabel: Oh, in the news?


Dan: On the news on the US. There were tents and then they were made to
wear pink underwear and that's how they were treated there in Maricopa in
Arizona. Well, here, it was tents as well. I know I was a load to my
family's shoulders. I know they had to come over and visit me. They had to
send me money. When my wife was selling all my tools and all my property, I
just told her, "Send me $150." I bought a lot of ... It's called
commissary, which it's a lot of food, quick soups, beans, Cokes, all that.
I bought tons. And it is common that people that has money, they put a
little store. You sell a Coke and when pay day comes, they give you a Coke
and they give you a soup. For everything that you sell, it is a soup as
interest. So I start building up my store inside and I didn't have to
bother my mom or my sisters, my wife. I was supporting myself over there.
That happened throughout the two years and half. By the time it was three
months before I got out, I start eating all my food with all my friends,
the inmates that I kind of got to know as friends. There were other people
that had stores and they were about to leave about the same time. So we
were eating everything and so we were sharing with all the inmates there.


Isabel: You created your own mini business again inside to support yourself
so your family wouldn't have to. Can you tell me about ... Were your
friends in similar situations, they were undocumented and sent here?


Dan: Yeah. The people that were there, they were undocumented as well. And
they have a little bit more years to serve than me. There were some of them
that they just that were very few months depending on what they did. There
were people that were just pulled over because they didn't have a
taillight. And it was very, very unbelievable stories that you would hear.
Everybody was there for different reasons.


Isabel: Right. This is going to sound like a silly question, but I guess
what I want to discuss is your opinion on how the US government has handled
that and the Mexican government in terms of treating people for crimes that
may not be that serious?


Dan: Once you cross the border without any proper documentation, you're up
for anything. You have to be aware. They're not going to give you anything
free. You don't belong there. Bottom line, you don't belong there. If you
work for having a visa, then we're talking about, hey, you have rights
because you went through the whole process. I don't think I'm not logical
person, I think that I can think logically. And I don't agree with those
American people that they live at the border and they take the job as a
security officer and holding people. And they're doing somebody else's job
because they don't want them to come. Let whoever is in charge of doing
their job and mind your own business. No? Now, people that are taking the
risks, they're going to have to pay their consequences sooner or later. But
it is up to them if they want to pay them or how they want to live, how
much they want to risk. Some kids, they cross the border, they don't make
it. And their parents, their siblings, they're crying over on their
hometowns because they didn't made it. But nobody forced them to do that.
There's always risks for everything that you do.


Isabel: Yeah. No, I think that's really fair. A couple of closing
questions, you said both the US and the Mexico has contributed to your
identity and your mentalities. Do you feel Mexican or American?


Dan: On most times, American.


Isabel: Most times American. Why is that?


Dan: In the US, that's where I create my lifestyle. The point of view is
based of your lifestyle, who you hang out with, why you hang out with them,
what you're capable of doing for some people or some others, not. Over in
the States, I would have a weekend where I would go out, party with my wife
and the next day I will go to a very expensive restaurant and buy her a
bracelet or a necklace, earrings and spend my money with who I love—my
family, my mom, my sisters. I would be very happy being in that restaurant
and everybody around the table and just take care of the tab and not worry
about it. I think that way. In here, in Mexico, even though that is a
little bit harder, I actually do the same thing. I hang out, I go out to
dance, I go to the karaokes. Back then, in the US, I would go to the lake,
do a barbecue. And here, I go to Acapulco. It's a lot better. I don't see
the negative things—I mean, I don't always focus onto the negative things
because negative things will ruin your life. Focus in what you have, who
you are, what you're capable of doing, and what you're capable of helping
others about, with this, with that. If people see you as a valuable person
for the experience you have at this point, they're more than welcome to get
help from myself. But not a lot of people think the same way.


Isabel: Yeah. That's true. And you said your wife and children live here
with you, too?


Dan: Right.


Isabel: And you work with New Comienzos now?


Dan: Right.


Isabel: Did your family, did they come back to be with you, then?


Dan: When I was deported, I was at Laredo and I was there for three weeks
until one of my sisters helped my wife pack a trailer. And that was my
house in a trailer, mattress, clothes, shoes, a TV, and the basics. They
drove down to the border and I met them after two years and a half just
about. And we got reunited and we got everything documented just that my
wife got in touch with the authorities at the border and said, "Okay. We're
going to be ... " I don't know how you say, but "self ... "


Isabel: Oh, voluntary departure.


Dan: " ... Voluntary departure and we want to pass our property, what is
left out of your house." It's like, "Okay. You have to do this and this and
this, put it on a piece of paper in a box what it contains. And in that box
with the number of boxes. Put the number on each box and see what it
contains and everything." So they did everything by order. We paid the
taxes. We paid whatever they ask us. And as soon as we were driving off the
bridge, we got pulled over by Los Zetas, which is a big old gang in Mexico,
big old rifles and everything. And they wanted to take everything, the
truck—it was a Suburban. They want to take the Suburban and the trailer,
all the property. I told them, "Hey, we're blocking the streets. I'll meet
you over at the hotel where we're staying." As soon as we got to the hotel,
I ran out to the lobby and I said, "Hey, these guys ... " He's like, "Are
they on white Cherokees?" We're like, "Yeah." "They have big old rifles?"
We're like, "Yeah." "Yeah, they're the Zetas." "So now what?" It was like,
"Oh, you have to give them tons of money." I was like, "Really?" It was
like, "Yeah." By that time, they start pulling over and there were more
people because they can see what it—it was one of those trailers that you
carry mulch because my brother-in-law has a landscaping company. You can
see everything through it. I got there and my brother-in-law, "No, yeah,
yeah, yeah. I'm just the driver. He's the owner of everything, everything."
Like, "Okay." And I was like, "Hey ... " I told my brother-in-law, "Hey, do
you have any sheet of papers with English information on it?" He's like,
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." So I grabbed that folder and I told the guys, "Hey,
yeah. What can I help you with?" It was like, "Hey, you have to pay taxes
on all your property." I was like, "We just did. And I'll show the sheet
that I paid all the taxes at the border." Like, "No, no, no, no. Don't act
stupid. You know what we're talking about."


Isabel: Oh, you paid taxes, too?


Dan: "We are the ones that take care of you going all the way to your
destination safely." And I said, "What are you talking about?" It's like,
"For everything that you carry, at least eight thousand pesos." Like,
"Really? Okay. I respect what you do. I don't know you. With all due
respect, but I've been deported. It was two years and half that I hadn't
seen my family. This is my wallet." Open my wallet. I show him. I had like
$350. I said, "This is all I have for gas and meals. We haven't eaten. My
kids are starving. We're about to eat. Is this the way you receive your own
compadres?”


Isabel: For sure.


Dan: Yeah. "That's how you receive us? And you say on big old pamphlets up
on the highways ‘Welcome Paisano. It's vacation time.’ How safe can we feel
having you around? No offense, but I know pretty much you're doing your
job, but are you really doing your job bringing us safe? Being deported and
not have money at all?" And just start looking at me and they start
laughing at each other. And I'm dead serious. "You want my money? This is
all I have. I don't even have enough for gas or going all the way to Mexico
City. This is all I have." He just give me a big old palm on my shoulder
and it's like, "Just go. Just go." And like, "Yeah, but I know your tricks.
You're going to let me go, but how about further down? Do you going to give
me a code or something that I went through you or what?" "Oh, just tell
them that the blondie guy just already check you up." I'm like, "Really?"
He's like, "Yeah." And yeah, we went through, but we didn't found anybody
else. We found the checkpoints with military people around six in the
morning and it was like, "Hey, but you don't want me to unload everything,
right? Just give us a little bit for breakfast." But if I didn't give
anything to Los Zetas, I'm not going to give you anything because ... And I
told him, "I've been deported. This is my paperwork, and I'm going back
home." And like, "Just go. Just go." So we ran with a lot of luck, but we
encountered a lot of dangerous situations that for somehow or another—I
feel like I'm a God believer. I feel like God was leading us and protecting
us and gave the perfect words at the perfect time. And nothing happened.
Nothing bad happened. Yes, I know, but you can see in the news people are
coming, the trucks are disappearing with the people. I didn't want to
imagine the worst-case scenario, but I was always focusing into just speak
the proper words without offending but at the same time being very
straightforward of not willing to do anything that they want me to do.


Isabel: Yeah. It sounds like you were able to think really quickly and
navigate those situations to protect yourself and your family.


Dan: And I'm here. I gave my wife a choice. I said, "You want to stay here
with the kids?" And I told her, I said, "I come over. I come over. I don't
know how I'm going to be able to do it, but I'll come here. I'll keep doing
the business and everything." But once being there for two years and a
half, you get to know a lot of stories and you realize, hey, this is no
joke. The next time it could be worse. And I was saying to myself, "Hey,
you don't want to lose another two years and a half and not being there for
your daughter, not being there for your son." I'd rather just enclose
myself and reprimand myself of a lot of ideas that I have and put it in
practice or just do it for my own… I would say, not being selfish. Now I
think about it for my kids. Basically, they're the ones that are stopping
me to do, to a point, crazy stuff for my own advantage or my own better
status economically-wise. Just like, no, I'd rather being together and if
we all eat a sandwich, we're all going to drink a Coke, but always together
because my dad ... That's what happened. My dad would leave us here, would
go over there, and then send for us. And I didn't want to follow the same
pattern. It's just you never know when your kids are going to need you at
one point.


Isabel: Absolutely. How old are your kids?


Dan: My little princess is thirteen and my boy is sixteen.


Isabel: Thirteen and sixteen. And are they both US citizens, then?


Dan: No. My boy was born here, May 10th, Mother's Day. And Jocelyn, my
little girl, she was born on February 5th.


Isabel: Here as well?


Dan: No, in the US, in Dallas.


Isabel: Oh, so your youngest, your daughter—


Dan: She's a US citizen.


Isabel: What are your hopes for them?


Dan: Well, I try to teach them right from wrong in the realistic way, not
just by words, but showing them examples. This is what it could happen. And
my daughter's case, I don't know who's going to be the lucky one, but if
she gets married with somebody from here, he will be American citizen as
soon as they get married. And more likely, they're going to be living in
the States. I really doubt that she will stay here. She doesn't like it.
When we arrived to Mexico, she didn't know a word of Spanish. For that
reason, she's supposed to be enrolled in third grade. They dropped her down
to second grade because she didn't know Spanish. Now, she is number one in
school with the grades and everything. She's very fluent in Spanish. She
flip everything around. I'm really happy for them. I'm really proud of
them.


Isabel: That's incredible. Yeah. Well, it sounds like they have a great
father to guide them.


Dan: I try.


Isabel: Is there anything before we close that you'd like to add or let
people know?


Dan: Well, basically, you really have to think more than twice about what
you want and what you're willing to give up. In some scenarios, you don't
think with your head. You think with your heart. Your heart, it's not wise
as your head. Always think about the worst-case scenario. You always think
about your worst-case scenario, if you're ready for it. And sometimes
crossing a desert or crossing the river, you end up there. You have to
think about it. You have to realize what it could be the worst. But always
be alert for what is coming, but at the same time, know your own limits
because you can say, "Yeah, yeah. I can do this. I can do this," but at the
last minute, you might have not the motivation or you might not have the
guts to do it. And you put your own limit to yourself. Whatever they do,
just think twice.


Isabel: I think that's perfectly said. I think we can end on that.