Daughters and Granddaughters of Farmworkers: Emerging from the Long Shadow of Farm Labor

7. Why Do They Stay?

138 I The conventional wisdom is that farm labor provides Mexican immigrants their entree into the United States, but that the children of immigrants quickly see that the way forward for them is to leave rural areas and migrate to cities where employment opportunities are better. The fact that Mexican Americans are predominantly an urban population reflects, in part, the movement of the children of immigrant farmworkers to urban places. The Imperial County women defy convention by continuing to live in the agricultural area that provided employment to their (or their partners’) immigrant parents or grandparents. This chapter considers the question of why the women I studied and their families remain in the Imperial Valley. In engaging this question, I assume that individuals are more than merely economic actors maximizing economic wellbeing through their migration decisions. Rural sociologists increasingly point to the need to consider noneconomic along with economic factors in understanding migration to and from rural areas (Brown 2002). A multitude of individual and household-level factors shape decisions to leave or stay (Johnson 2003, 29). To begin to examine women’s decisions to continue to live in the Valley, I asked what they think to be the positive and negative aspects of living in Brawley. I also asked if they have considered moving away from the Valley. I also consider structural characteristics of Imperial County that may affect their satisfaction with the community and decisions to stay. Commitments to People and Place The main reasons women continue to live in the Valley are related to people and place. First, women choose to live here because their extended family also lives here; second, they have strong attachment to the community.1 c h a p t e r 7 WHY DO THEY STAY? Why Do They Stay? 139 The extended family plays a central role in the organization of family life in Imperial Valley. Kin networks serve a vital function by distributing economic resources and care across generations. Household extension is a major economic strategy, with more than 40 percent of women sharing housing with parents, parents-in-law, or siblings. The Imperial County women and their families frequently lack the economic resources necessary to live as freestanding independent households. Some live with and provide care for their disabled parents. The parents of several single mothers provide the emotional and instrumental support that enables their daughters to be both good workers and good parents. This finding is consistent with research finding that reliance on kin is an important survival strategy for working-class and poor families and is especially prevalent among families of color (Blumberg 2005; Stack 1974). Next I explore the attachment of women research participants to Brawley, specifically , or the Imperial Valley, more generally.2 The things the Imperial County women say they appreciate most about living in Brawley are its small-town atmosphere , the presence of a strong sense of community, and the positive environment the community provides for raising children. The most frequent comments about Brawley and its small-town atmosphere are that“everyone knows everyone,” and “it is calm.” Knowing your neighbors and being known in the community are among the benefits of living in this place. Patricia Ochoa appreciates that if you need assistance, people are willing to help, in part because people know each other. eva Vallejo says that if you go to the grocery store, “You are guaranteed to meet friends. Pretty much anywhere you go you will meet someone you know. It’s a comfortable lifestyle.”Christina Gilbert says,“It’s good because there’s not so many people that you get lost [in the crowd].You can get close as a community with the teachers, with the school.”Several women use the word“calm”to describe Brawley. They use “calm” or sometimes “mellow” to refer to their positive experience of Brawley as slow-paced, quiet, relatively safe, rural, and without major traffic issues. Gloria espinosa says,“It’s calm—there’s not that much crime.I mean,there’s crime everywhere, but you do feel relatively safe in your home.” Carmen Silva says,“It’s a small town—I like that environment. Transportation is not a big issue. I can’t see myself spending hours on the road getting kids to school.” Many women identify a strong sense of community as one of the most favorable characteristics of Brawley.Several women comment on the sense of connectedness in the community. The perspectives of three daughters of farmworkers illustrate this...