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Mexican Hometown Association Oral Histories

Leodegario Torres

This page is referenced by:

Leodegario Torres Club Arroyo Seco de Arriba, Municipality of Tepetongo, Zacatecas

Oral History Transcription

Oral History Audio

Name of Interviewer: Enrique Alvear
Date of Interview: August 3, 2016
Location: Maywood, IL
Interview Language: Spanish

Originally from the “Colonia José María Morelos”, Zacatecas, Mexico, Leodegario Torres arrived in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant in 1974. In Zacatecas, Leodegario studied only until 3^rd grade because there was no school in his local community. Consequently, he was compelled to leave school to work for his family farm. Under precarious conditions, he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in Mexicali and went to San José, California. After 2 weeks working in San José as a dishwasher in a buffet, he was arrested and deported by “La Migra” to Chihuahua, Mexico. Back in Zacatecas, Leodegario worked for a brief period in a family farm. Leodegario then decided to return to the U.S. by crossing the border in Ciudad Juárez to live with his aunt in El Paso, Texas. After a brief detention by the local police in Ciudad Juárez, Leodegario came back to the U.S. and arrived in El Paso at his aunt’s house. From there, he took a flight and returned to Chicago. In this city, Leodegario got a job as a dishwasher working a 12-hour shift, seven days a week while he lived in the restaurant's basement. After saving some money, he decided to go back to Arroyo Seco de Arriba, Zacatecas, with the goal of taking care of his farm for about 6 months. After that, Leodegario came back to the U.S. arriving in El Paso once again. It was in El Paso where he obtained his permanent residency thanks to his mother’s U.S. citizenship. After two years living in the U.S., he went back to Arroyo Seco de Arriba and married an old girlfriend and brought her to Chicago. They had three children. At that time, he worked as a laborer in construction. Currently, Leodegario Torres has his own construction company. He is a cofounder of the Club Arroyo Seco de Arriba, starting his participation in the association as a treasurer and then president. From its inception, the club has been affiliated to the Federación de Clubes Zacatecanos de Illinois (FECUZI), an umbrella organization working with other clubs from Zacatecas, Mexico. Club Arroyo Seco de Arriba´s mission is to raise collective remittance funds to finance social infrastructure projects in the community of Arroyo Seco de Arriba.