TRAITORS

Copyright
© 2012 by Gerardo Robledo.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

DEDICATION
 

Acknowledgements
 

Prologue
 

The First Part
 

Adapting to A New Life
 

The Price of Being
An Immigrant
 

An All-Out-War
 

In Search of Help
 

The Painful Goodbyes
 

Putting the Pieces Together
 

Traitors
 

Searching for Change
 

A Country of Immigrants
 

Note From The Author
 

DEDICATION
 

This is especially dedicated to my wife, Letty Robledo, who participated tirelessly throughout this project and showed patience in the long process of preparing this book, besides being the principal contributor. Thank you, my love.

To my beloved children, Gerardo Jr., Cesar and Santiago, who donated part of their due time to carry out this project.

To my parents, Juan de Dios Robledo and Elba Sanchez, who formed my life with great love and unconditionally accepted my adventure of emigrating and being far away from them. I love you very much.

To my siblings, Rafa, Yola, Cruz, Danny, Rosy, Juan, and Lulu, who, in some way have influenced my life.

This is dedicated with much love to my brother, Daniel Robledo. Bro, rest in peace. Forgive me for not being able to be with you during your last farewell.

To my in-laws, who, day by day, share this tough journey in this great country.

Finally, a very special dedication to those who left in search of a better life… and to those who stayed awaiting their return.

Acknowledgements
 

For
the
ideas
and
great
input
which
they
provided
me
throughout
this
whole
process:

Letty Robledo, Francisco Negrete, and Ms. Maria del Rocio Robledo.

To
everyone
who
helped
in
the
preparation
of
this
book:

Rosaura Flores, Juan Maldonado, Margarita Yáñez, Mundo Tovar,
Bryan Guerra, Father Antonio Ponce of Santa Rosa de Lima and Father Carlos Alarcon.

For
his
ideas
for
the
front
and
back
cover,
and
photography.

Juan Pablo Gonzalez and his company, JP Max Studio.

For
the
great
editing
job:

Punto
y
Aparte
Inc—Ms. Maria Luisa Peña and Ms. Amelie Guerra and Mike Valentino.

To
everyone
who
helped
in
the
translation
of
this
book:

Gerry Alcala, Martha Cordero, Francisco Negrete and Arthur Shirley.

Finally,
special
thanks
to
this
great
country
which
has
given
me
shelter
over
the
past
years
and
ultimately
helped
me
attain
almost
all
of
my
dreams.
And
to
my
beautiful
and
beloved
Mexico
that
continues
to
be
there,
waiting
for
our
return.

Prologue
 

I
mmigration is a worldwide phenomenon that is essential for the development of all countries. This book has been written to expose the true feelings of people who decide to migrate to look for new opportunities. Each person leaves in search of a new adventure without knowing whether there will be a happy ending or if the adventure will simply end in tragedy. But what we do know is that each immigrant has their own story to tell, and although we don’t realize it, our lives will forever be marked—for good or for bad.

The United States of America is the country, which most immigrants look to as their objective. Even though with time, it has become harder to stay and establish a new life there because people are still struggling to attain that goal.

Some even lose their lives in the attempt, while the others who have made it are becoming conscious of the fact that life becomes more and more difficult as time passes by in this great country, since discrimination and racism have become more rampant in the past few years. In the same manner, tougher laws are being passed making us look like delinquents; leaving us open to be treated as if we were murderers or sexual offenders even for an infraction as trivial as a traffic misdemeanor. This causes us to live a life of degradation helpless to do anything. We gradually die knowing that we are losing everything that we have left behind: our families, our parents, siblings, and miserably for some, our children. They may die waiting for our return or in anticipation of that moment when we will finally be able to bring them with us on this adventure that has left a lot of pain—both for those who have come and those who have stayed.

Whether legal or otherwise, we immigrants feel the same sentiment, especially when we are not accepted by the society in which we work and contribute resources to, and ending up being considered second class citizens living beneath the shadows. Ultimately we become strangers here in our own land—
here
, because we don’t exist in an archive and
there
, because we have left and are no longer part of our own homeland.

This book is a tool to help us understand the possible outcome of our decision to migrate. It is also a reminder not to forget the people who look forward to our return having in mind that time does not pause waiting for us to come back, but rather it takes its toll on us year after year. This book helps us understand that the person who stays suffers as much as the person who leaves; that when we leave everything behind, we leave in search of what we could not obtain where we were; and that the courage that we have when we decide to migrate is the very same that we need to remain standing in this fight.

Anyone who has emigrated, or has friends or family members who have done it, will find something to relate to in this story and will once again experience that feeling or that moment that started this adventure which will forever stay in their hearts.

This book will uncover the true feelings and suffering that is felt by those who are in search of a better life and will make you feel that suffering that, each day, lives in the hearts of immigrants.

This book shows how
love
, at the end of much suffering, prevails over the hatred that lives in the hearts of those unable to accept other human beings in their society whose only crime is to be immigrants.

In the same way, this story shows how love is not only able to change our lives, but the course of an entire nation, fighting for the ideals of the people to be heard beyond what is unthinkable, and thus having an impact on the community and the nation.

The First Part
 

The entire news media waited impatiently for the President of the United States to emerge
and sign the long-awaited and necessary law that would legalize nearly twelve million undocumented immigrants who had settled in the country. It was a story that not only captured the attention of the American people, but of the entire world. Ever since the 1986 amnesty granted by former President Ronald Reagan, there had been very few efforts to help immigrants who had come to this great country in search of better opportunities. Reporters had flocked to Washington from all over the world to witness the historic moment now that the House of Representatives and the Senate had finally agreed to approve the landmark immigration reform bill.

While in the state of Arizona a small group of anti-immigrant racists protested the new measure, cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami euphorically celebrated this great victory. It would hopefully bring to an end the racism and discrimination that had been so harmful to a community of good, law-abiding folks whose only “crime” was to live and work in the U.S. without legal documents. This law would also bring harsh punishment for racially motivated hate crimes and other blatant injustices perpetrated against immigrants.

The excitement was even greater because the President would read a letter written by the young
Luis
Arriaga
which had been the catalyst that originated the change. It had succeeded in awakening a nation and in touching the hearts of Americans who understood that it was time to change course in the most powerful country on the planet. This letter had been promulgated at a national level several months earlier and it led people of many cultures to unite with one voice and work together with one mission. Historically, this mission has always led the U.S. into becoming a strong and solid nation, showing the world that America would always fight for the good of humanity.

It all started in Sylmar a little over a year ago in early 2007. Sylmar is a quiet city in southern California that had a very peaceful life after going through an extremely busy time. It had previously been plagued by riots mostly resulting from heavy gang membership spurred by racial conflict between African American and Latino youths, fighting for power in the sale of drugs and territorial control. The tranquility that prevailed one afternoon on Polk Boulevard was shattered by the overwhelming clamor coming from the local school, where they held the final football match between
The
Spartans
and
The
Tigers
. The Tigers were from San Fernando High School in the neighboring town. The teams were bitter rivals and had faced each other on numerous occasions. Players from both sides played with great vigor to bring the coveted trophy to their school.

In the last quarter of the game, quarterback Luis Arriaga made a long pass to a receiver who happened to be open. This led to a win that earned the Spartans their fifth championship. Luis then celebrated the victory with his teammates and other students who packed the field for the award ceremony.

Among the crowd was Zina, Luis’ girlfriend of three years. They had begun their relationship since they started school together.

“You were great in this game, my love,” Zina said. “I knew that finally, after three years, we would win. I’m proud of you and the whole team.”

“Thanks, love,” Luis said. “I hope this time you’ll come to the celebration since you
couldn’t come
to the training; I know your parents won’t let you. But my time will come and it will be I who will not let them see you.”