Hard Tortillas: Too Broke for Beans

I want to write this in first person, because I’m proud to declare: I am an immigrant, college-educated, a diplomat, a writer, and passionate about immigration. Immigrants are not statistics, we are human beings! I’ve been an immigrant since 1969. It was thanks to my parents’ effort and determination that I arrived at the city of Pacoima, California, where i completed my early years of schooling in the San Fernando valley public school system. I completed my university degree at the Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico (UNAM), in Mexico City, graduating with a degree in International Relations in 1982. I went back to my home up north in 1984 and, after multiple applications, I was hired as an unpaid volunteer at the Mexican Consulate General in Los Angeles, California, assisting in their Protection Department. A few years later, my effort paid off and i was awarded a small salary; then, in 1994, I became a official member of the Mexican Foreign Service. Not long after, in 1995, I was transferred to Orlando, Florida, as part of the first group of government officials that would inaugurate the first Mexican Consular Representation in the city. I spent 7 years as Deputy Consul. In 2002, my experience landed me in Tecun Uman, Guatemala, where i served as Deputy Consul Consul Incharge at the Mexican Consulate, located in one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In 2005, I was transferred to Delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Morelia, Michoacan (Mexico), to work in the Protection Department. From 2008 to 2014, I returned to the United States to work in the Mexican Consulate General of San Antonio, Texas, as Consul of Community Affairs. Currently, I reside in Austin, Texas, assisting fellow paisanos who walk through the doors of the Mexican Consulate. I’ve written 4 books: - Tortillas Duras: Ni Pa Friijoles Alcanza, translated as(Hard Tortillas: Too Broke for Beans) - Ta de la Tostada: La Vida Allá en el Norte - Por Si las Moscas, Paisano. - Y se los llevo la chin... And I’ve led conferences at over 60 universities in Mexico, the U.S., and Ecuador., with novel recipient Rigoberta Menchu and international voices in immigration issues as Padre Solalinde and the Patronas. I’ve also produced a Radionovela: Tortillas Duras: Ni Pa Frijoles Alcanza. And, recently, I worked as a producer and actor on the impactful documentary ＂American Dream＂.