The Xaripu Community across Borders: Labor Migration, Community, and Family

5 Haciendo Comunidad across Borders

145 chapter Five haCiendo Comunidad aCross Borders Xaripu norteñas/os have crossed national borders for over a century , and their concept of home has correspondingly changed over time. For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, most Xaripus considered Michoacán their home and the United states a place to go temporarily for work. in the latter part of the twentieth century, the concept of having a home base in both nation-states emerged for many Xaripus, and thus their sense of “home” shifted to include both: soy de aquí y de alla (i am from here and from there). in the twenty-first century, social ties remain strong across borders and continue to move fluidly back and forth to and from Mexico. these transnational Xaripus generally return to Mexico in order to relax, go out, and have fun. there they experience a cultural freedom that they lack in the United states,1 where their humanity is reduced to devalued workers (as discussed in chapter 4; see also Bellah et al. 1996).their unequal integration into el norte has partly motivated this ongoing movement across national borders (Barrera 1979; Parreñas 2001b; espiritu 2003b; Goldring 2003). this chapter contextualizes and conceptualizes Xaripus’ transnational experience2 and explores key themes in their formation of community across borders, including: (1) convivencia (quality and intimate social interaction); (2) nepantla (emergent identities);3 and (3) empowerment. it also shows that Xaripus’ ability to construct community within and across nations is significantly shaped by race, class, and gender differentiations as well as by national inequalities. 146 the Xaripu community across Borders conteXtualizing and conceptualizing Xaripu transnationalisM the history of the pueblo Xaripu predates the founding of the nationstates of Mexico and the United states (Fonseca and Moreno 1984). although the pueblo was transformed by european colonialism, slavery, peonage, and later neocolonial inequalities, the emergent ethnic/racial identities of the Xaripus reflect a shared and collective history that to a great degree continues to this date. nonetheless, contemporary international migration has created more divergent experiences among folks of this pueblo, which have resulted in profound changes in identity and self-understanding. the Xaripu community’s international migration experience predates the Mexican revolution, when Mexican hacienda elites expanded their land holdings in partnership with foreign investors and thereby dislocated indigenous and mestizo communities from their lands (see chapter 3). as a result peasants were converted from subsistence farmers to low-wage laborers in haciendas that produced for export (Moreno García 1994; Fonseca and Moreno 1984; Gonzalez and Fernandez 2003). to find work Xaripus began migrating within the nation , and after the construction of the Moreno railroad station near Xaripu around 1900, they began to migrate across the border to work in the United states. this migration was formalized with the first UsMexican guest-worker program (1917–21), which recruited Mexican temporary workers for the expanding agriculture, mining, and steel industries . Xaripu migration continued through the Bracero Program (1942–64) and was then further transformed by the 1965 immigration and naturalization act, after which entire families began to join the men in migrating north (McWilliams 1990; Galarza 1964; chavez and Mart ínez 1996). in the post-Bracero Period (after 1964–65) legalization of residential status and family reunification made it easier for Xaripu families to begin settling more permanently in california, which effectively transformed their labor migration to transnational migration in the late twentieth century and into the twenty-first. as discussed in previous chapters, Xaripus’ transnational migration has intensified as a result of neocolonialism, advances in technology, reincorporation by sending nations,4 racist nativism in receiving societies Haciendo Comunidad across Borders 147 (Feagin and Feagin 1999; chavez 1997),5 and mature social networks across borders (espiritu 2003b, 70–71; Guarnizo and smith 2003, 24; Goldring 2003, 166–70, 189; smith 2003, 205, 207). to frame the discussion of the Xaripu case it is important to first establish a working definition of what comprises a transnational community, even though no consensus exists on the content range and nature of transnationalism (Guarnizo and smith 2003, 3–4; Menjívar 2004, 1–2; Fouron and Glickschiller 2002, 171). some scholars, noting the lack of clarity in what forms a transnational community, highlight the centrality of social relations based on migrants’ shared history, interests and meanings, and place of origin and destination (Guarnizo and smith 2003, 13, 26–27; Mahler 2003, 73–76; Goldring 2003, 173, 175...