THE PAINFUL, UNFORGETTABLE TREK

 

THE PAINFUL, UNFORGETTABLE TREK

THE MAYANS AMONG US - Migrant Women and Meatpacking of the Great Plains

Ann L. Sittig & Martha Florinda Gonzalez (who emigrated from Guatemala to Nebrasksa)

Published by Bison Books, RRP £10.99

Based on excerpts from interviews, this is the story of Mayan women from Guatemala who ended up thousands of miles from home in the US Midwest meat packing factories of Nebraska.

As children in poverty ridden Guatemala the women, descendants of an ancient civilisation, worked on the land from as young as five years old. They received hardly any education as it was assumed that as adults the women would look after their husbands and children.

Civil war raged in Guatemala between 1954 and 1996. When President Jacobo Arbenz began redistributing land to the poor the USA under President Eisenhower organised Operation Success. Arbenz was replaced by US Army-trained Carlos Castillo Armas. Guerilla activity began across Guatemala in 1960. In 1970, President Carlos Arana Osario started assassinating his opponents and those suspected of sympathising with the insurgents.

A former solider interviewed for the book lays bare the horrors of the vicious conflict that left over 200,000 dead and a million civilians displaced.

The rootless, followed later by many others, journeyed North to work in the midwestern U.S. state of Nebraska that encompasses the prairies of the Great Plains. These rich agricultural lands are perfect for growing corn on which beef cattle are reared for slaughter with the meat then packed and transported to the major supermarket chains and for export.

It is a highly profitable business and employers such as Tyson, JBS, Swift, Cargill and Excel constantly require able-bodied employees. This means the plants are not focused on enforcing immigration laws.

Mayan women, who after walking through Mexico, risk everything by investing their borrowed finances in the hands of people smugglers to help them cross the yawning, dry Sonoran Desert into the USA.

It’s a painful, unforgettable trek which can never be forgotten and such that it is too painful to contemplate repeating.

On eventually reaching Nebraska the women, whose intention is to find work and then send as much money home as possible, seek support from an established Mayan community in which religious beliefs and strong  family ethics are key.

The women intend staying, but for many their undocumented status does not allow for any future security or investments. A constant fear exists of coming to the attention of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (ICE) 

Most Mayans seek out a petition from a relative to legalise their situation. Local union offices sometimes receive visits from Guatemalan consulate officials who help the women make applications for a precious green card that offers permanent residency.

Meatpacking in Nebraska is highly industrialised. Every worker has a designated spot and job to do and some kind of utensil or two in their bloodstained, gloved hands. There is meat everywhere and workers perform specific tasks on each piece of meat placed their way. The plants, situated at the heart of the community and economy, are noisy.

Low wages and the strenuous, repetitive nature of the work create a high employee turnover rate. Many plants at the time when this book was published in 2016 were unionised. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) assists workers overcome hiring, training, salary, interpreting problems and with completing online residency applications.

The UFCW has complained when ICE has raided factories to find and deport illegal workers. The union also supports victimised workers. Mayans though are often reluctant to complain as they don’t want to draw attention to themselves.

Packed with huge, tear jerking and heartwarming stories this book highlights a global economic situation that increasingly forces people to migrate thousands of miles to find work to simply live life with dignity.