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Betina Garcia (Danish School of Journalism)
The invasion from within
Award of Excellence
Documentary
Documentary
Marcos Espinoza, 17, who is half Guatemalan and Mexican is born and raised in the U.S. He’s a son of illegal immigrants escaping local violence in Guatemala and Mexico. He represents a generation of Hispanics, the biggest and youngest minority group in the States currently counting 54 million people (2013). Never before in the history of America has a minority ethnic group made up such a large share of the youth in America. One-in-five schoolchildren are Hispanic and every fourth child born is Hispanic according to Pew Research Center. By the year 2060 Hispanics will constitute 28 % of the population in the U.S.
Marcos is one of the Hispanics who stays very true to his roots. He comes from a family of Rancheros, the Latino version of an American cowboy. He grew up in California, but the family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky in June, 2015 to live on his grandfathers ranch.
Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
Marcos Espinoza, 17, who is half Guatemalan and Mexican is born and raised in the U.S. He’s a son of illegal immigrants escaping local violence in Guatemala and Mexico. He represents a generation of Hispanics, the biggest and youngest minority group in the States currently counting 54 million people (2013). Never before in the history of America has a minority ethnic group made up such a large share of the youth in America. One-in-five schoolchildren are Hispanic and every fourth child born is Hispanic according to Pew Research Center. By the year 2060 Hispanics will constitute 28 % of the population in the U.S.
Marcos is one of the Hispanics who stays very true to his roots. He comes from a family of Rancheros, the Latino version of an American cowboy. He grew up in California, but the family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky in June, 2015 to live on his grandfathers ranch.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
The family went to a surprise birthday party for their cousin. From left: Marcos uncle Juan Barrillas with his girlfriend Blanca, a 23-year-old Mexican girl, who is carrying the couples first child. Next to Juan is grandfather Manuel Barrillas who is enjoying a talk with his brother. They are a total of 11 brothers and one sister in their family. In the Guatemalan culture it is very natural to have a lot of kids. "The more the merrier," they both say. Manuel loves all his grandchildren and spends a lot of time with them passing on his Guatemalan culture and values. He has six grandchildren so far.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
Marcos is cleaning the stable after a day of riding on September 16, 2015. He lives with his two siblings, parents, his moms parents and his uncle. Everyday he rides horses and help his uncle and grandfather maintaining the ranch and taking care of the cattle.
"I've always been a ranch boy. Like a country boy," he says. Marcos goes to Bowling Green High School and will graduate in the Summer of 2016. It was his grandfather Manuel who introduced him to the ranchero life style and he has been hooked ever since he sat on a horse for the first time at the age of five.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
Overview of the ranch at night. Grandfather Manuel Barrillas bought the ranch with his sons Juan and Manuel Barrillas about three years ago as the market for a farm was very cheap in Kentucky compared to California where the prices are increasing rapidly. Grandfather Manuel is born in Guatemala and was raised on a farm. In 1986 he had to flee his country as local guerrillas were kidnapping and killing people who came from the Middle class and higher, which was the reason he brought his wife and three sons to America.The situation is more stable now, but local extortion and kidnappings is still part of daily life. "You could never feel safe and that is very stressful, because you're constantly worrying about you and your family's safety ," he said.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
Marcos stands between "Cowboy" and his grandfather Manuel on December 19, 2015 in front of the bonfire at the ranch.
When Manuel first came to California his brother-in-law got him a job with an American constructor. He started out by taking trash from the construction area. When he quit the job 20 years later he was one of the constructors and had built several houses in Malibu. "Coming to America was a hard transition especially with the language barrier. We worked 12 hours a day and it was hard work, but I am very appreciative that we could work, so I could provide for my family. We were a huge group from Guatemala working there, which was nice because we all came from the same background," Manuel said.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
Nayda Espinoza, 12, is sitting in her parents bedroom at the ranch on December 28, 2015. Nayda sleeps in the same room as her parents until the family is done expanding the house, so she can get a private room. Nayda dreams of being an Interior or Fashion Designer. Now she has her own chickens she's in charge of and sell the eggs they produce to family and friends that way learning to do business.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
On Saturday September 26, 2015 Marcos cousin Elisa Yamileth is having her Quinceañera, which is a Mexican tradition for celebrating a 15th birthday. Yamileth is being taking to the church in a horse carriage in Bowling Green, Ky where the family will gather for a ceremony. Her cousin Paco makes a selfie or her and her cousin. In the back her uncle Juan Barillas and two friends of the family got their horses dressed up so they could do a parade. In Mexico the quinceañera is considered the moment a young girl enters womenhood.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
It’s sunday and Marcos is resting in the hammock at the ranch. His parents go to Iglesia La Hermosa, a Hispanic church every sunday. They try to make him and his siblings go too, but they won’t force them. “I don’t like going so much. I will rather stay here and chill with my uncle and his friends”, he says. The mother felt people were a bit racist when she went here a few years ago. "One time I was in the mall and talking to my cousin on the phone in Spanish. The women looked at me with disgrace because they weren't used to see Hispanics. Today it's different, now there are way more hispanics over here," Julissa says.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
On a Saturday in December the group took a little trip to their Guatemalan friend Wilsons workplace where he takes care of the cattle outside Bowling Green, Ky. The caught some cows so they could practice their roping skills. It's essential to be a true ranchero, as you sometimes need to catch the cows in order to give them medicine or slaughter them. Marcos loves doing roping and being on his horse Maximo. "To get away from everything and everyone, I would just go riding. I would saddle my horse and just leave. You live in the moment, it is just you and the horse," he said.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
After a day of roping Marcos' uncle Chino Barrillas hand got a bit hurt. Chino is one of the Hispanics in the U.S. that works in the construction industry.
Hispanics comprise 30% of the U.S. construction workforce. Hispanic workers play a large role in the U.S. workforce, especially in industries with a high proportion of production or blue-collar occupations. In 2008, Hispanic production workers made up 36% and 30% of the workforce in agriculture and construction respectively, and encompassed 22% of the employees in all industries.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
At a surprise party for the grandma Elisa Barrillas all her grandchildren kiss and hug her before she has to blow out the candle while the rest of the family is clapping and singing in Spanish. Manuelito is the youngest grandchild at the age of 5, who at this point only knows a few words of English. His grandfathers never learned English and they take care of him during the day so his parents can work.
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Story: The invasion from within
The invasion from within
One of Marcos’ best friends is Hector Gardunó. He rests on the 4x4 after they went riding. The ranch gathers a lot of Hispanics, giving them the feeling of being back in Mexico. "It's like being in two different worlds, out here it's like daydreaming", Marcos says.
They ride together almost every day. Mexican Gardunó works at an American owned ranch just outside of Bowling Green. “I like it, I get to stay out all day and work with horses,” he says. Out of the 54 million hispanics in this country 64.1 % of them are Mexican.
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