Reynaldo Arteaga

Reynaldo Arteaga was born in Brownsville, Texas, mere steps from the Mexican border, which gives him rare insight into the hardships facing immigrants who’ve come to Baton Rouge in search of a better life.

His grandparents were all migrant workers, coming across the border several times a year for work, but those brief flirtations with America were enough to make them leave Mexico behind forever in search of their own American dream. Both of Arteaga’s parents were born in the states, making him a second-generation Mexican-American.

He now makes his home in Baton Rouge with his wife, Andi, and their daughter, Ava. The recent influx of Hispanic families here reminds him of his childhood, when U.S. Border Patrol agents patrolled the streets of Brownsville, routinely asking about papers and making assumptions based on accent and appearance. In his three years here he has seen local law enforcement doing the same kinds of things, something he never expected to see in Baton Rouge. Still, he says, he understands it’s necessary to make this a safe place to live.

“I feel bad sometimes,” he says. “I know what my family went through, but now as a taxpayer I’m aware of the strain illegal immigrants can have on our economy. You can never say that 100% of everybody coming into this country, whether they’re Latino or not, are here to work and make an honest living. I find sympathy for people who are here to work hard and are really here to build a new life for their family, like my grandparents. It’s a shame that those people have to do it under cloak and dagger (just) because some people are here for the wrong reasons.”