‘A lot of people are nervous' about new law

GUYMON — On the south side of town, a subdivision made up of modest mobile homes is where many of the community's Hispanic workers live. There are single males supporting families back home. There are also families. Some have lived in the community legally for many years.

Many are afraid.

On Thursday, one of the most stringent immigration enforcement bills in the nation takes effect in Oklahoma. It makes it illegal to hire, house, transport or conceal illegal immigrants. The immigration law targets illegal immigrants, landlords who house them and employers who give them work.

Catherina Castillo, 68, is a first-generation American. She was born and raised as a child of migrant farmworkers.

Growing up, her parents were forced to move frequently. She was harassed by white schoolchildren and mistreated by teachers. She quit school at a young age. She remained in the Panhandle, raising six children in Guymon, and owning two local businesses despite her lack of education.

But it was not easy, she said. Being a Mexican-American in Oklahoma was a struggle.

"I was a child but I remember it must have been this time of year, late October, because the corn was dry,” Castillo said. "We were walking to school and this boy riding on a horse said, ‘Jim, I don't want that ... trash walking with us.'”

They chased her off the dirt road and forced her to walk miles through the cornfields. The dry husks cut into her skin.

"By the time I got home, I was all bloody.

Page 1 of 2

1 2 Next