Los Illegals, directed
by Shishir Kurup,
Armory Northwest,
Pasadena, 2007.
Photo: John Luker
Mic hael John Gar c é s
Los Il l egals
Based on Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega
This play would not have been possible without the astonishing generosity, courage, and energy of the
National Day Laborers Organizing Network, El Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur de California,
the UCLA Labor Center, the South Asian Network, and especially the many inspiring individuals both
within and outside of these organizations who shared their experiences and stories with me.
¿Quién mató al comendador?
Hay un lugar que yo me sé
Who killed the commander?
en este mundo, nada menos,
— Lope de Vega, Fuente Ovejuna
adonde nunca llegaremos.
You create your future so you can have a past, a
past that reflects your own will rather than a past
imposed by history. . . .
Creas tu futuro para poder tener un pasado, un
Donde, aun si nuestro pie
llegase a dar por un instante
será, en verdad, como no estarse.
There is a place that I myself know
pasado que refleja tu propia voluntad en vez de un
in this world, no less,
pasado impuesto por la historia. . . .
we will never reach.
— Rubén Martínez, Crossing Over: A Mexican
Family on the Migrant Trail
Where, even if our foot
were to reach it for an instant
it will be, truly, as if we are not there.
— César Vallejo, “Trilce”
© 2011 Michael John Garcés. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, typescript, recording
(including video), and information storage and retrieval systems, without permission from the producer,
Cornerstone Theater Company.
caution: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that, being fully protected under the
copyright laws of the United States of America, the British Commonwealth, including the Dominion
of Canada, and all other countries of the Copyright Union, this play is subject to royalty. All rights,
including professional, amateur, motion picture, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio and television
broadcasting, and translation into foreign languages, are strictly reserved. Particular emphasis is laid on
the questions of readings, permission for which must be secured from Cornerstone Theater Company,
708 Traction Ave., Los Angeles, ca 90013.
Theater 41:2
doi 10.1215/01610775-2010-036
69
gar c é s
Places
People
El Centro [The Center]
Where things come to rest, where there are
endings, and beginnings.
El Centro
Workers:
teresa
loreto
jimmy
ernesto
claudio
pedro
jorge
yolanda
manuelito
the band
La Esquina [The Corner]
Where all converges, the place of arrival and
departure.
Adentro [Inside]
A black density of shifting flesh. The back of
a refrigerated truck. The long drive from the
Guatemalan to the American border.
Afuera [Outside]
The sky and ground stretching away before
and behind, pure white. The great southwestern desert.
La Plataforma [The Platform]
Where voices are raised. Can be anywhere,
should not be in one fixed area; it is where
public events occur, where people vie for
attention, where they hope to be heard.
Sometimes it is integrated into one of the
other spaces, other times it is separate. Perhaps there are several, perhaps it moves. It is
everywhere, at least potentially.
It might be the moment all faces turn in one
direction, might be the camera’s eye, might be
a courthouse or theater stage. Or all of them
at once.
Jornaleros Unidos (United Day Laborers)
Site Representatives:
marisol, site coordinator
carmen, site manager
mauricio, site coordinator
La Esquina
Workers:
omar
lalo
ramón
Afuera
javier
Adentro
rosenda
Others
george, store manager, giant
hardware
juan, security guard, giant
hardware
brenda, an activist with california
patriotic residents (cpr)
kim, representative for immigrant
action
70
l os il l egals
nathan, lawyer for jornaleros
unidos
police officers #1 and #2
gloria
judge
translator
homeland security
well as that which is made clear by the intentions and organic gestures of the actors. The
immersion into the experience of unintelligibility in parts of the play for monolingual
Spanish or English speakers is intentional.
Production Notes
Our impression is of noise, which is constant. It
increases, then subsides, but never abates. The
sound of the urban dynamic, counterforces of
striving traffic and consuming hunger. Boisterous
voices, aggressive and mocking.
It is not clean. The city exhales here,
and all of the exhaust coughed up out of the iron
lungs of its machines settles on every surface: slick
grime, acrid smoke, a film of insidious grit. There
are no soft places, there is no respite. The angles
are sharp, the windows and walls indifferent,
the textures are rough. It is no place for skin, for
exposure. There is no relief. The colors are blunt.
The harsh, inorganic blend of odors tastes of
disease.
At first it seems impassable, dense with
standing, walking, sitting bodies, as if there
is nowhere for us to go. Bodies, forms, but not
individual specificity, an alien mass, a crowding.
Others. The shadows are teeming. Faces flicker
not quite in and then blur back out of focus.
Suddenly a space opens up before us, we see our
destination. Yet we have to move through this
throng to arrive. We have to make a decision.
As we enter the space, we are among these
others who are themselves in constant motion,
never at rest, nowhere to rest; even when they
are standing or crouching there is a constant
alert shifting of attention, eyes seeking ours,
uncomfortably close, a sense of urgency in the
searchingness of their insistent, incomprehensible
words, bodies that push toward us in a tidal
surge. Male bodies, strong ones, thick or slender.
It is uncomfortable but not dangerous. They do
not touch us. We know these others pose no threat
of harm. We think nothing can happen to us here,
The Spanish in the play may be adapted to
each individual speaker with regard to idioms
and other figures of speech, though, of course,
the basic structure and meaning of the line
should not change.
An ellipsis ( . . . ) signifies a trailing off,
an unfinished sentence. A dash ( — ) signifies
a cutoff, often an interruption.
It is possible that El Centro is always
present regardless of what else is going on.
The prologue, interludes, and epilogue
all occur as the audience is entering and exiting the space. The prologue and interludes
should be almost overwhelming, intense
sound combined with manic movement and
grotesque figures, masks, and/or puppets. The
public should feel almost assaulted.
Note for
Th i s Ve r s i o n o f t h e P l a y
This version, with Spanish lines translated
into English, is intended for reading purposes
and was originally done for the convenience
and comprehension of the cast members and
others working on the show who did not
speak Spanish. There is also a version that
has all English, including stage directions,
translated into Spanish, for those who do not
speak English.
In production it is not intended that
there be any translation of lines other than
that which is provided by the dialogue, as
Prologue—La Esquina
71
gar c é s
believe this is a place where we are safe. Or is it?
The bodies want something from us. Sometimes
there are many others here, sometimes few, but
always it feels like a multitude, because they are
constant. Incessant. They want something. What?
This is La Esquina — the corner. We
cannot leave the space without passing through
it. If there are multiple exits, the corner is each
of them. It is where we have to come together
with the other to get anywhere. La Esquina is
not defined by space but by flow. It is the border.
Between here and there, us and them.
Preshow—El Centro
We are in the space now. It is early morning.
Before us: El Centro — the center.
There is a lively banner above which proclaims
“ JORNALEROS UNIDOS — Community Job Center/
Centro De Trabajadores.” Quiet groups of men
and women, mostly sitting, some standing, are
waiting. It is a large, neat area, outdoors. There
is a fence around it, about 10 feet high. The urban
soundscape, while present, is less immediate than
on the corner.
On the left is a concrete clearing. In the
clearing, against the fence, are some weathered
couches and chairs, some upholstered, incongruous
in the pale daylight. Mostly men are congregated
here. A radio plays next to one of the sofas where
four or five men form a half circle, the trebly,
animated Spanish in contrast to the atmosphere
of quiet expectation. Two or three others sit alone,
staring off.
In the middle of El Centro, beneath a
pale blue fabric canopy, there are two parallel
rows of four tables with benches. Some are
occupied. People are quietly speaking, or reading
newspapers or books. A group of men are intently
bent over a checkerboard painted in black and
white on a thick wood square. The pieces are
bottle caps. The two players move with some
caution, though pieces are captured with a
flourish. Some people drink coffee. There is a
small cart near the tables with a large coffee
72
maker, Styrofoam cups, sugar, etc. Some eat corn
tortilla tacos on paper plates. There are a woman
and a man cooking behind the tables, outside of
the canopied area. Also in that area are portable
bathrooms, and a sink. Closer to us, a desk, and
behind it a young woman, marisol, sitting
with papers, a walkie-talkie and a small wooden
box before her. Occasionally a man or woman
comes up from outside and signs something, puts
a piece of paper in the box, asks her a question
or two. Then they enter El Centro, get coffee or
food, sit with others. Sometimes the walkie-talkie
squawks, marisol responds, there is a
momentary sense of alertness amongst the men,
she reaches into a box on the desk, calls out a name
or sometimes two, “Pablo Vargas” or “Benjamín
Chávez” or “Wense Cortez y Santiago Martínez,”
hands the men a bright blue vest, and they leave
the center.
In an area apart from the rest of El
Centro claudio is working on a painting. He
is always there unless otherwise noted. He works
intently, sometimes pausing to take it in. It is of
a figure, arms outstreched, in the midst of a great
brightness. The sun is huge overhead. On either
side, like a portal, are verdant green trees, but
these are in another space than where the man
is. When things get tense on stage, unless he is
involved, claudio works with ever increased
intensity and focus. He will sometimes enter the
conversation and then go right back to his work.
Somewhere else in El Centro there is a completed
painting or mural depicting an Eden-like setting.
To the right of the canopy is a rectangular
office trailer. One of the doors, upstage, leads to
an office with a phone and computer. The other,
downstage, leads to a classroom. A ramp across
the front of the trailer rises to a narrow platform
in front of the doors. There are also steps up to the
office. Over the trailer, on the high brick wall of
the windowless building behind it, is painted the
word “GIANT ” in huge letters.
The static radio voice comes in
again, speaks longer than usual, seemingly
incomprehensible. marisol listens intently, rises,
l os il l egals
and walks up the stairs and into the office. No one
else pays any particular attention to this.
The effect is of quiet but not silence.
have anything. Not fear. Not hunger. Not thirst.
Not even the need to sleep.]
javier All I need.
Act One
rosenda Pero no me hace falta. [But I don’t
need it.]
Scene One—Afuera/Adentro
javier And maybe a bath.
Lights down to two other places. Afuera it’s
already hot — much brighter than the previous
scene. javier stands, sweat on his brow and his
clothing. He is sunburnt, mouth open, panting.
He keeps licking his lips, and drinks soda from a
Coke bottle. He has a plastic jug of water in the
other hand. He looks tired. Adentro we can barely
make out rosenda. She is surrounded by dim
bodies, which press up against her, incessantly
shifting. She is huddled as best she can. There’s
no real way to sit or crouch, there isn’t enough
room. There is a vibrating sense of motion. She
is rubbing her arms, pulling her thin sweater
around her. She is whispering but audible in this
scene. We also see, in his space, claudio working
painstakingly with his brushes.
rosenda No necesito nada. [I don’t need
anything.]
javier I’m coming.
Scene Two—El Centro
rosenda Alla voy. [I’m coming.]
A woman, teresa, maybe forty-five, enters
from outside. She seems much more tentative than
others who have preceded her in to the area of
El Centro. She stands, awkward, near the desk.
marisol comes back in, goes to the desk, picks up
the walkie-talkie, speaks into the mouthpiece.
javier I don’t care.
rosenda Pase lo que pasa. [Whatever
happens.]
javier Get ready to celebrate, brother.
rosenda Aunque nadie me conoce. [Although
nobody knows me.]
javier Girls, beer and . . . water and
Coca-Cola and . . . and that’s all. Some music.
rosenda No necesito a nadie. [I don’t need
anyone.]
javier A few dollars. Enough to get by.
That’s all, Claudio.
rosenda No tengo nada. Ni miedo. Ni
hambre. Ni sed. No tengo ni sueño. [I don’t
javier That’s it.
rosenda Ni necesito respirar. [I don’t even
need to breathe.]
javier Just need to keep going.
rosenda Nada mas que llegar. [I just need to
get there.]
javier I just need to get there, Claudio.
That’s all, brother.
rosenda Eso es todo. La llegada. Eso y no
mas. [That’s it. To get there. That’s all.]
marisol ¿Mauricio?
teresa Perdón, señorita, yo me llamo Teresa
y, pues bueno, yo — [Excuse me, miss, my name
is Teresa, and, well, I — ]
marisol Sí, espérase un momentito por favor,
señora, que ahora no puedo — ¿Mauricio?
[Yes, wait one moment, please, ma’am, right now
I can’t — Mauricio?]
teresa Bueno, es que no se si estoy — [Yes,
it’s just that I’m not sure if I’m in the right — ]
73
gar c é s
Los Illegals, 2007.
Photo: John Luker
marisol Un momento . . . [ Just a sec . . . ]
¿Mauricio? Are you there?
carmen comes out of the office. loreto, one of
the women who was reading the paper, crosses to
teresa.
carmen What’s up?
loreto Señorita, venga y siéntase con
nosotros. Ahorita va a comenzar la asamblea.
[Miss, come and sit with us. The assembly is
about to begin.]
marisol He’s not answering.
teresa Pues, no sé si este es el lugar que
busco. A mí me dijo un señor que . . . [Well, I
don’t know if this is the place I’m looking for. A
man told me that . . . ]
loreto No se preocupe. [Don’t worry.]
carmen Try him again.
loreto Me llamo Loreto. [My name is
Loreto.]
marisol ¡Ay! He’s so . . . ugh.
teresa Sí, pues, mucho gusto. Teresa. Así
me llamo. [Yes, well, nice to meet you. Teresa.
That’s my name.]
carmen What?
marisol You try him. He never answers me.
loreto ¿Buscas trabajo? [Are you looking for
work?]
carmen Marisol.
teresa Sí. [Yes.]
marisol Okay. ¿Mauricio? We need to get
started.
loreto Pues los que buscan trabajo deben de
estar aquí. [Well, if you’re looking for work this is
where you should be.]
The radio squawks again. teresa nods and
loreto leads her to the table where she was
sitting and gets her coffee. The others nod and
make room.
carmen Who’s that?
marisol I don’t — Mauricio?
carmen Did she sign in?
74
l os il l egals
marisol I think she’s new.
carmen Marisol . . .
marisol I thought you wanted me to get
him, he’s such a —
carmen You’re supposed to register anyone
who —
marisol I was going to after the —
mauricio Hey. ¿Qué pasa? [What’s up?]
mauricio enters from outside. marisol stands
up from the desk.
carmen Where were you?
mauricio What? I was coming here.
marisol Did you turn off your —
jimmy Oye, ¿Mauricio? [Listen, Mauricio?]
jimmy is over in the clearing, some distance
away. He sits in the midst of the circle of men by
the radio.
mauricio ¿Sí? [Yes?]
jimmy ¿Qué pasa que no están llamando
casi gente para salir afuera? Aquí estamos
sentados como unos pendejos. [What’s going
on? Why aren’t they calling anyone to go outside?
We’re sitting here like a bunch of assholes.]
mauricio Bueno, Jimmy, es que — [Well,
Jimmy, the thing is — ]
carmen Mauricio, we should start the
meeting, it’s first on the agenda anyway, so —
mauricio And I did answer, you guys
didn’t —
marisol We couldn’t understand anything. It
gets all distorted, you’re too loud.
jimmy Oye, ustedes dos deben de casarse de
una, y ya, pues, porque — [Listen, you two
should get married already and get it over with,
because — ]
mauricio Me? I can hardly hear you when —
marisol Ay, Jimmy, cut it out, you’re not
funny.
jimmy But if you two are so in love —
marisol Jimmy, por favor, no sea tan —
[ Jimmy, please, don’t be such an — ]
carmen Guys, come on we need to get
this —
marisol ¡Ay! Okay, fine.
mauricio Listen, Carmen, George is
coming.
carmen George? From Giant? When?
mauricio Now.
marisol Why?
ernesto ¿Qué pasó con el George? [What’s
up with George?]
ernesto is sitting under the canopy near the
checkers players. He speaks to jimmy, who has
approached them.
mauricio He wants to talk.
jimmy Que quiere hablar con ellos. [He wants
to talk to them.]
carmen Well, so do I, we need to —
mauricio No, with everyone.
jimmy No, pues, con nosotros. [No, I guess he
wants to talk with us.]
ernesto ¿Y eso? [Why?]
marisol Why? He never —
carmen We’ll find out when he gets here.
jimmy ¿Quién sabe? Disculpe, Carmen,
pero mire la hora. ¿Cuando se va a comenzar
esto, que siempre se retraza y eso no es bueno
porque estamos aquí para trabajar, no para
platicar. Hay que buscarse la vida, no se
puede estar esperando y malgastando todo
el día mientras que ustedes están ahí con esa
habladera, esa güiri-güiri — [Who knows?
75
gar c é s
Excuse me, Carmen, but look at the time. When
are we getting started, we always start late and
that’s not good because we’re here to work, not to
gossip. We’ve got to make a living, we can’t be
wasting time and messing around all day while
you guys are there with all that talking, that bla
bla bla — ]
carmen I know, Jimmy, pero estoy haciendo
lo mejor que puedo. [but I’m doing the best I
can.]
mauricio He’s right, we should start the
meeting.
carmen Yes, he is. Thanks, Mauricio. Who
was it we were waiting for?
marisol Ay, these meetings are always so —
mauricio I was coming, I told you.
marisol ¡Bueno! ¡Ya! ¡Vamos a empezar! [Ok!
That’s it! Let’s get started!]
There is a shift. They are on La Plataforma.
mauricio ¡Atención! [Attention!]
jimmy ¡Okay, listos pues, hombres! [Okay, get
ready, men!]
loreto ¡Y mujeres! [And women!]
carmen ¡Compañeros y compañeras!
[Everyone!]
marisol ¡Acércense! [Gather around!]
mauricio ¡Tenemos mucho que hablar! [We
have a lot to talk about!]
carmen ¡Ahora comienza la asamblea! [The
assembly has begun!]
Everyone in El Centro looks up. People come in
from outside, mostly men. Some of those who were
seated rise . . . and the play begins.
76
Scene Three—Afuera/Adentro
Lights down to two places. Afuera it is very, very
hot. javier is having trouble, stumbling a bit.
He is walking oddly because of the heat coming up
from the ground, which makes it hard for him to
stay still. His sunburn is worse, a deep red. His
lips are rough, and he licks them, but his tongue
is dry. He only carries the now half-empty water
jug. He drinks from it often, small sips — the
water is scalding. He is breathing hard. Adentro
rosenda is uncomfortably changing positions
in the very dim light, which jostles those around
her, who nudge and poke back. She rubs her
thighs, which are cramping. She is shivering,
and her lips, if we can make them out, are blue.
Sometimes, if the truck turns or stops, she shifts
hard with it.
rosenda “Stop complaining. It could be
worse.” How? “If you don’t like it, pray.” All
we do is pray all the time every day nothing
happens. “Well, then, do something.”
What, Mamá? “Well, I don’t know. I’m
not the one complaining.” But Mamá, I’m
not complaining, I’m just saying. “It could
be worse, Rosenda. It could be worse.” It is
worse, Mamá. “Even worse than that.” How?
“Well, I don’t know. But it could.” How?
“Life isn’t supposed to be easy. God makes
life hard so that it will mean something
when we laugh. So that we will know we
are living. That it will get better. So we can
be thankful.” You always say that. “Because
it’s true.” Well, I know I am living, so He
can stop now. You can let Him know, next
time you talk to Him. Give Him a call on
Don Chepe’s phone. Tell him I say “hi and
how’s the virgin?” “Rosenda, don’t talk like
that.” Well, He’s not listening to me. “If you
think it’s so bad, Rosenda. Do something.”
But what? What, Mamá . . . Mamá? Mamá?
Mamá, I did do something. And it’s . . .
worse.
l os il l egals
javier Oyeme, hermano mio. Me lo vas a
pagar, ¿sabes? Me quedas debiendo. Nunca
me dijiste lo dificil que era esto. Bueno,
Claudio, me lo dijiste, pero no le creí.
Me debieras haber convencido. Eso es tu
responsabilidad, mi hermano. La culpa es
tuya, cabrón. (He laughs.) Sí. No me debieras
haber mandado ese dinero que yo te pedí.
Porque mira donde me encuentro ahora.
Nadando en este maldito mar seco. Subiendo
y bajando olas de arena. Volando entre llamas
de fuego. Lenguas de calor. Espero que hayan
morras tan bonitas allá como las muchachas
de Cherán, tan morenas y tan chulas. Porque
si no, allí si vamos a tener un desacuerdo bien
feo. Porque me vas a tener que pagar la vuelta.
Y esa vez, hermano mio, me voy en primera
clase. Sorbiendo champaña. Comiendo . . .
bueno, no sé que diablos comen esa gente
educadita. La gente de bien. ¿Qué voy a
saber yo? Pero caminando no voy . . . en
avión. Eso. O en helicóptero. A ver lo que
dicen en Cherán. Cuando me vean salir del
helicóptero. (He laughs.) Así que espero. (He
laughs.) Así que espero que estés trabajando
bien duro, Claudio. Porque eso cuesta caro.
[Listen to me, my brother. You are going to pay
for this, you know? You owe me. You never told
me how hard this would be. Well, Claudio, you
told me, but I didn’t believe you. You should have
convinced me. It was your responsibility, brother.
It’s your fault, you asshole. (He laughs.) Yes. You
shouldn’t have sent me that money I asked you
for. Because, look where I am now. Swimming in
this damned dry sea. Rising and falling on waves
of sand. Flying among flames. Tongues of heat.
I hope there are girls as pretty there as the ones
in Cherán, as dark and as sweet. Because if not,
you and I are going to have a problem. Because
you will have to pay my way back. And this time,
brother, I’m going first class. Sipping champagne.
Eating . . . well, I don’t know what the hell fancy
people eat. The silver spoons. What do I know?
But I’m not walking . . . in a plane. Yes. Or in
a helicopter. We’ll see what they say in Cherán.
When they see me get out of the helicopter. (He
laughs.) So, I hope you’re working really hard,
Claudio. Because that’s expensive.]
rosenda Cold so cold my stomach clenched
my arms curled my legs balled up like I was
in the womb like someone punched me like
I was . . . praying . . . so tight all these bodies
like . . . (She laughs.) . . . vegetables piled like
lettuce like corn packed in like tomatoes
like avocados like praying fruit . . . sending
us in a truck to church . . . praying not
breathing . . . so cold so we don’t wilt . . . so
we don’t rot, so our skin stays fresh and our
teeth don’t get soft . . . so our teeth don’t . . .
all these bodies all alone . . . all kneeling lips
moving all of us in the dark praying to . . .
for . . . something . . . Don’t believe in
anything, but . . . I’m here, right? Just like
you prayed. You prayed, you paid . . . all your
money Mamá . . . driver packed us in here
like . . . meat . . . keep us fresh . . . (She laughs.)
Cold but . . . To get there . . . pray to . . . I
will work, Mamá, and work and work and
send you more money than you ever . . . and
if there are any good things I will pray for
them . . . I will thank Him . . . praying to . . .
you, Mamá? Are you there? Are you praying
for me in Chalatenango? Or am I praying to
Him? I will believe, Mamá, if this ever ends
then I will have to believe. In something.
javier Agarre la onda, buey, me dijeron.
Agarre la onda. Allá está tu hermano que te
puede ayudar, ¿que estás haciendo aquí? La
onda, la ola. Viene y va. Pues la agarré, y mira
donde me dejó. La ola, la onda. Se rompió
esa ola y me lanzó en el medio esta gran playa
sin océano y me dejó solo. Solito en el mundo
entero. Así es. Solo bajo el sol. [You gotta do
it, man, you just gotta dive in. Don’t fight the
current. Your brother’s there, he can help you,
what are you doing here? Well, I let the wave take
me and here I am. The wave broke and it threw
me up alone in the middle of this beach without
an ocean. Alone in the whole wide world. That’s
it. Just me and the sun.]
77
gar c é s
Scene Four—El Centro/
La Plataforma
traffic and talking to customers without
permission.
ernesto has the floor. george is present. He
wears a tie and a short-sleeved shirt with a patch
that says “GIANT ” over his left pocket.
carmen Jimmy, hombre, Ernesto tiene la
palabra. [ Jimmy, man, Ernesto has the floor.]
ernesto Pero lo que no entiendo es por
qué nos están perjudicando a nosotros si son
ellos, los que están en la esquina, quienes
están causando el problema. [But what I don’t
understand is why we are the ones being blamed
if they, the ones on the corner, are the ones who are
the problem.]
marisol He doesn’t understand why you
are blaming them when they aren’t the ones
who —
ernesto Si son ellos los que están tirando
basura y molestando. Aquí todo está
limpio, todo ordenado. Aquí tomamos
responsabilidad por nosotros mismos. Por lo
nuestro. [They are the ones who are throwing
garbage everywhere and causing trouble. Here,
everything is clean, everything in order. Here
we take responsibility for ourselves. For what is
ours.]
marisol Those other guys are the ones who
are littering and —
jimmy Sí, yo sé, es que solamente — [I know,
it’s just that — ]
mauricio Hombre, pero por favor, ¿sí? [Man,
please, okay?]
marisol ¡Ay! Wait for your turn Jimmy!
carmen Ernesto, George dice que eso no
es el punto. [Ernesto, George says that’s not the
point.]
ernesto Pues, ¿cual es el punto, entonses?
[Okay, then, what is the point?]
george We have too many people in the
parking lot, soliciting, disturbing customers,
screwing around and disrupting traffic. There
are only supposed to be ten workers out there
at any given time. All in their vests so we
know who they are. Ten. That’s all.
marisol Yeah, right, that’s exactly what we
do, we only send out ten, just like we agreed.
We haven’t —
ernesto ¿Que dijo? [What did he say?]
george That may be but —
carmen Marisol.
jimmy Esos entran al parqueo sin permiso.
Nosotros no. [They go in the parking lot without
permission. We don’t.] George, it isn’t fair. You
can’t blame us. Those guys on the corner
have nothing to do with the center. We try to
convince them to come here, but they are just
a bunch of babosos [idiots].
marisol Carmen, I just —
mauricio Jimmy, Ernesto está hablando.
[ Jimmy, Ernesto is speaking.]
jimmy We even go out there two times every
week to help clean the mess they make.
george That’s not the point.
jimmy They are the ones who are stopping
78
mauricio Dice que deben de estar alla afuera
en el parking solamente los diez del centro en
sus chalecos. [He says that out in the parking
lot there should only be the ten from the center in
their vests.]
marisol George, I’m sorry, but —
george No, I’m sorry. We’ve been dealing
with this for a long time and it isn’t getting
better, it’s getting worse.
marisol Que la situación alla en el parking
no se está mejorando. [That the situation in the
parking lot isn’t getting better.]
l os il l egals
ernesto Pero si no es culpa de nosotros. Son
los que no son parte del centro. No tienen
nada que ver con nosotros. Dile que — [But
that’s not our fault. It’s the ones who aren’t part
of the center. They don’t have anything to do with
us. Tell him — ]
marisol Ernesto, por favor, slow down, que
no puedo — [Ernesto, please, slow down, I
can’t — ]
carmen He says that it’s not the center’s
fault, it’s the ones that are on the corner. The
workers who come here aren’t —
george The whole point of having this center
in the first place is that there shouldn’t be
anybody out in front of the store harassing our
customers.
mauricio George, the point of having a
center was to protect the workers from having
to —
george Not from our perspective. With all
due respect. My customers are my priority.
There isn’t even supposed to be a corner.
That’s why we gave you this space.
marisol No, the city council forced you to
do that.
ernesto ¿Qué dice? [What did he say?]
carmen Guys, enough. Translate, Marisol.
george You people are supposed to wait here
and have a small presence out there so anyone
who needs workers knows where to come.
marisol That’s exactly what we do.
ernesto ¿De qué estan hablando? [What are
they saying?]
jimmy Dice que la razón por el qual nos
dejaron establecer el centro era para que no
hubieran jornaleros allí afuera molestando
a los clientes. [He says the reason they let us
have the center was so that there wouldn’t be any
workers out there bothering their customers.]
The radio squawks. marisol listens.
george It’s not working.
mauricio What do you mean it’s not
working?
jimmy Dice que no está funcionando. [He says
it’s not working.]
george It’s chaos out there. Someone’s going
to get run over, get hurt. And it’s scaring
customers away.
carmen You have to give us time.
george We’ve given you time.
carmen More time.
george Carmen, I don’t —
marisol ¡Chavos! Hay alguien acá que sepa
como instalar . . . ¡Ay! [Is there anyone who
knows how to install . . . Ugh!] How do you say
sprinklers in Spanish?
pedro ¿Sprinkler? ¿Para la yarda? [For
lawns?]
marisol No, for fires, en una oficina [in an
office].
george Regadores. [Sprinklers.]
jimmy Sí, muy bien, George, regadores de
emergencia. [Yes, very good, George, emergency
sprinklers.]
carmen Pedro los sabe instalar. [Pedro knows
how to install them.]
marisol Allá afuera está el hombre. [The
man is out there.]
pedro Necesito alguien que me ayude. [I need
someone to help me.]
mauricio Acérquense a la mesa los que estén
interesados. [Anyone who is interested go to the
table.]
Everyone crosses to marisol. She shakes a
bucket, draws out a piece of paper with a name
on it.
79
gar c é s
marisol Pedro . . . y Manuelito. [Pedro . . .
and Manuelito.]
manuelito Finally! Man, Marisol, it’s been
four days since you picked me.
marisol It’s not my fault there’s no work,
Manuelito. El hombre está en el parking, en
un Toyota pickup color azul. [The man is in the
parking lot, in a blue Toyota pickup.]
jorge ¿Qué dijo este loco? [What did that nut
say?]
jimmy Hasta nunca, que eso no va a cambiar,
se pone cada día peor. El gabacho tiene razón.
[Until never, it’s never going to change, it gets
worse every day. The gringo is right.]
george What did he call me?
ernesto ¿Qué dijo? [What did he say?]
mauricio Nothing.
marisol Nada. [Nothing.]
george Huh.
pedro Andale, pues, Manuelito. [Come on,
then, Manuelito.]
carmen George, if you only let us send five
workers out —
jimmy Quejando que no le habian escojido
por quatro dias. Hace cinco que yo no trabajo.
[Complaining that he hadn’t been picked in four
days. Been five since I’ve gotten any work.]
george Five is what it is. I’m sorry. My boss
is not happy. So I’m not happy.
The two men leave. The others, disappointed,
return to their places.
carmen So?
george So. Until things get better you can
only have five workers out there at a time.
marisol But that is completely —
george Security will ask anyone else to leave
the parking lot. We’re getting complaints
about —
jimmy Esa gente en la esquina no hacen mas
que andar chupando la botella y arruinar la
situación para todo el mundo. [All those people
on the corner do is drink and screw things up for
everyone.]
claudio Bueno pero Jimmy, de todos modos,
son paisanos, ellos buscan trabajo igual a
nosotros. [Okay, but Jimmy, regardless, they are
from the same place we are, they are looking for
work just like us.]
carmen George, let’s just try to find a way to
figure this out.
carmen About our guys? Or the ones out
there who —
george I don’t know, Carmen. My butt’s on
the line here.
george We’re cracking down on them too.
carmen We’re on the line here, George.
Every day. We’re out there every day, talking
to them, trying to convince them to come
here.
ernesto Oye, ¿pero alguien va a traducir?
Que no se entiende nada. [Hey, isn’t anyone
going to translate? No one can understand
anything.]
marisol Sí Ernesto, sorry, dice que
solamente van a dejar que cinco jornaleros en
chalecos a la vez salgan a buscar trabajo hasta
que — [Yes, Ernesto, sorry, he says that they are
only going to let five day laborers in the vests at a
time to go out to the lot for work until it — ]
80
george Well, you haven’t been very
successful.
carmen We have. There are more workers
here than ever before.
george Yeah? Well there are more illegals
out there in front of the store than ever before.
l os il l egals
Los Illegals, 2007.
Photo: John Luker
A large man in a jacket with “GIANT
HARDWARE — SECURITY ” on the back approaches.
mauricio Illegals?
juan Mr. Palmer?
mauricio You been checking papers,
George?
george You know what I mean.
juan Sir?
george This can’t wait?
juan I don’t think so.
juan and george move off to the side, and
speak, heads bowed close together.
jimmy Estoy de acuerdo con el George. Está
jodido allá afuera. [I agree with George. It’s all
fucked up out there.]
claudo ¿Como puedes decir eso? [How can
you say that?]
jimmy ¿Si es la verdad? [What? The truth?]
yolanda Pero si no son nosotros. Son los de
la esquina. [But it’s not us. It’s the people on the
corner.]
jimmy Pues para la gente de este pais somos
todos iguales. [Well, for the people from this
country we’re all the same.]
claudio Pues, ¿sabes qué? Tienen razón.
Sí somos iguales. Somos todos jornaleros.
Buscando trabajo como podamos. Uno como
el otro. [Well, you know what? They’re right. We
are the same. We’re all workers. Looking for work
however we can. Each like the other.]
jimmy Bueno, Claudio, y entonces, ¿ahora
qué? Ellos nos están perjudicando a nosotros.
[Okay, Claudio, so, then what? They’re making
things bad for us.]
marisol If they don’t let us send men out,
they’ll just go out anyway, and then it will
be —
carmen I know.
claudio Pues, eso sí que no lo puedo negar,
Jimmy. [Well, I can’t argue that, Jimmy.]
george Shit.
carmen What?
mauricio What happened?
george As of right now no one is allowed in
the parking lot or on the property of Giant
Hardware who doesn’t have business with
us. No one. Anyone found soliciting on the
grounds will be subject to arrest. That’s it.
mauricio But that’s ridiculous, how do you
expect —
81
gar c é s
george The police will place them under
arrest for trespassing on private property and
Giant will press charges.
carmen But George, you can’t —
george I can and I have. That’s it.
marisol The city won’t just let you —
george Then talk to the city.
ernesto ¿Qué fue lo que dijo? ¿Van a arrestar
a alguien? [What did he say? Are they going to
arrest someone?]
mauricio Dijo que — [He said — ]
george You want to know what I said?
Ustedes no pueden en el parking lot.
Prohibido. [You not in the parking lot.
Prohibited.]
marisol But why? What happened?
george I’m serious, Carmen.
george exits with juan. There is a pause.
teresa ¿Qué pasó? [What happened?]
Scene Five—La Plataforma
brenda stands in the glare of lights. She looks
sleek and professional and wears a sweater that is
red, white, and blue but not gaudy or otherwise
tasteless. There are others around her, though we
may or may not be able to make them out. We
hear a crowd. They are vocal and responsive to
her speech.
brenda — here because no one else is.
We are here, because our politicians, who
we elected, our judges, who we appointed,
our police, whose salaries we pay, are not.
Why? Because they lack the courage to
enforce the will of the American people.
Hard-working people who have seen
strong unions and well-paying decent jobs
disappear as employers have taken advantage
of half-starved desperate people from other
82
countries who came here illegally and took
those jobs at a third of the salary. I look at
my black brothers and sisters and see them
suffering. From poverty and humiliation.
Should they work for slave wages because
others will? That’s what it is. A new form of
bondage. I don’t blame poor people. I don’t
hate anyone because of the color of their skin.
This isn’t about race. But I do hate what is
happening to the America my people fought
so hard for. An America that can afford
equality. That can afford freedom. That is
what is being taken away from us. There
are brown people standing with me, yellow
people strong at my side. United, because
we care about this country. White and black
people arm in arm. Standing against the
government, the corporations, the special
interest groups that are at war with us. With
the people. What we have in common is
that we are American people. It still means
something. And we the people must do
something. Doing something starts in our
neighborhood. We want our country back.
We’ve given too much to lose it.
The crowd responds with enthusiasm.
They have made this corner a lawless
place. The West is wild again, right here
in this parking lot. Right next door. This
is where the West will be lost, if we don’t
do something about it. You can’t come
here, in broad daylight in the middle of our
neighborhood without men running up,
saying who knows what to you, pawing at
you. As a woman how am I supposed to
feel? They practically pull you out of the car.
Which would be bad enough. But going into
that woman’s house? Robbing her? Attacking
her? I thought it was work they wanted?
What’s next? I know my parents fought
too hard and I work too hard to lose what’s
mine. Is this why my brother is in Iraq? Yes,
they may be poor. But my people were poor
and they overcame through dignity and due
process. My people didn’t choose to come
l os il l egals
here. They didn’t come here illegally, they
were brought here illegally. And now these
people who make a choice to come here,
to break the law and take our jobs and live
on welfare and ruin our schools, want our
neighborhood too? I’m not going to let my
city turn into a slum without a fight. So we’re
going to take the battle to them. They’ve
come here? Well, here is where we are. We’re
taking a stand. And we’re not leaving.
lalo Yeah? Well, they’re going to get it.
ramon Ellos se meten entre uno y los
patrones — toman videos y gritan no sé
cuantas cosas y los patrones se ponen
nerviosos, salen volando. [They get between you
and the employers — take video and scream all
kinds of things and the employers get nervous and
take off.]
mauricio And when the police arrest you?
lalo They should arrest them.
Scene Six—La Esquina
omar, lalo, and ramon are standing on the
sidewalk. Although they might be very involved
in what is going on in the conversation, their
eyes are always roving, checking to see if anybody
is looking for workers. The noise of traffic is
immediate, encroaching. There is also the sound
of screaming voices, chanting, from farther away.
We can’t quite make out what they are saying.
These are the protesters; we can hear but not see
them. The three men are speaking to carmen,
jimmy, mauricio, and ernesto.
omar ¡Momento! Ellos vienen a gritar y
a quitarle el trabajo a nosotros que no le
estamos haciendo nada a nadie. [Wait a
minute! They come to yell and take work away
from us, and we’re not doing anything to anyone.]
lalo Yo, protestors? Protesting what?
My dinner? My rent? That’s what they’re
protesting? They want to step they best be
ready.
ernesto Bueno, si, ¿pero que le vamos hacer?
[Well, yes, but what can we do?]
lalo The bald one gets in my face again and
it’s over.
omar Pues, no sé, pero habrá que hacer algo.
[Well, I don’t know, but something has to be
done.]
carmen No you can’t, Lalo, that’s what they
want.
jimmy Ustedes están aquí afuera donde toda
la gente que están pasando en la avenida los
ve y ustedes mismos los atraen. [You guys are
out here where everyone who is passing by on the
avenue sees you and you are the ones who attract
them.]
ramon ¿La culpa es de nosotros? [It’s our
fault?]
lalo Yo, we didn’t aks those people to be
down here. Don’t blame us.
ernesto Bueno, si estuvieran en el centro
con nosotros, entonces a lo mejor — [Well, if
you were in the center with us, then maybe — ]
omar Eso no va a cambiar nada. [That’s not
going to change anything.]
lalo I’m serious. They taking money out my
pocket, I’ma take something back.
carmen As long as they don’t do anything to
you they have the right to free speech.
lalo Free speech? They’re not here to
protest, man, they’re here to stop me from
working. They’re attacking me. No one
is going to hire anyone with all of them
screaming and —
carmen They can protest. So can you. All of
us can.
mauricio Sí, ustedes mismos pueden
protestar también, en contra de ellos, nosotros
en el centro pudieramos ayudarles a organizar
83
gar c é s
algo para que cuando ellos vengan, ustedes
puedan alzar sus voces en contra. Y allí
estaremos a su lado. [Yes, you can protest as
well, against them, at the center we could help you
to organize something so when they come, you can
raise your voices against them. And we’d be by
your side.]
omar ¿Y como vamos a protestar si a nadie en
este pais le importa lo que nosotros tenemos
que decir? [How are we going to protest if no one
in this country cares what we have to say?]
carmen Omar. Eso no es verdad. [Omar.
That’s not true.]
lalo No, man, he’s right. No one in this
country cares, ain’t nobody going to listen to
us.
ramon Que va, yo no vine a protestar ni a
pelear con esa gente, yo vine a trabajar y ellos
están espantando a los que vienen con trabajo.
[Forget it, I didn’t come to protest or fight with
those people. I came to work and they are scaring
off my customers.]
lalo Pues, they need to not be up in my
face. They think I’m scared? That guy be
videotaping me, he get too close, that’s it. I’m
not looking for problems, but if they come
to me, what can I do? I don’t go to where he
works, don’t take food off of his plate. ¿Sí o
no? [Yes or no?]
omar Sí. [Yes.]
ramon Mira, nosotros apreciamos que
ustedes nos ayuden, y vengan a limpiar y
todo, pero ustedes están allí atrás y nosotros
estamos aquí en la calle con esta gente
encima. [Look, we appreciate that you help us,
and you come to clean up trash and all, but you
are back there and we’re the ones in the street with
these people on top of us.]
jimmy Sí, por su propia voluntad. [That’s your
choice.]
omar Sí. ¿Y que? [Yeah, so?]
84
lalo Hey, man, pues if you guys are going to
argue about this again I’m out.
mauricio No venimos a discutir, Lalo. [We
didn’t come here to argue, Lalo.]
lalo I ain’t going to go back to the center
with you all and sit and hope someone hires
me. That’s not how it works. I got to be out in
the world, get what’s mine, nobody going to
just hand it to me.
carmen Okay, está bien, Lalo. Omar,
Ramón, miren, creo que hay un problema mas
grande, no sé exactamente, pero parece que
algo pasó y es por eso que vinieron ellos hoy.
[Fine, Lalo. Omar, Ramón, look, I think there
is a much bigger problem, I don’t know exactly
what, but it looks like something happened and
that’s why they’re here today.]
lalo What kind of problem?
omar Esa gente viene por cualquier razón.
Vienen porque no tienen más nada que hacer.
[Those people come for any reason. They come
because they have nothing better to do.]
ernesto Eso si. [That’s true.]
ramon Puro racismo. [Racism.]
mauricio No, es algo mas. Vino George y
nos dijo que — [No, there something else. George
came and told us that — ]
lalo No, man, George is just as bad. Ramón
almost got runned over yesterday by some
crazy guy who didn’t want to stop, like he was
aiming at him or something, and George was
all like it was our fault.
carmen ¿Sí? ¿Estás bien? [Really? Are you all
right?]
ramon Sí pues. Me caí no más. [Yes. I just
fell.]
omar El tipo ese siguió como si nada. Ni
paró. [The guy just kept going as if nothing had
happened. Didn’t even stop.]
l os il l egals
mauricio ¿Seguro que estás bien? [Are you
sure you’re all right?]
lalo What’s he going to do? Go to the
hospital?
ramon ¿Hospital? No, tengo que trabajar.
[Hospital? No, I got to work.]
lalo Can’t make no money in the emergency
room.
omar ¡Aguas! ¡Aguas! Ahi viene el pinche
security. [Heads! Heads up! Here comes the
fucking security.]
george and juan come up to them. As they do,
all move back a few steps, off of GIANT HARDWARE
property.
lalo Oye, we are on the sidewalk, man.
omar Mira, viene con su jefecito. [Look, he’s
coming with his little boss.]
jimmy El George.
carmen George?
george Carmen, what are you guys doing
out here?
jimmy We are not on your property George,
we’re on the sidewalk. Public property, ¿qué
no? [isn’t it?]
juan Make sure it stays that way.
jimmy Okay, mister.
lalo What’s your problem, man?
ramon Deja eso, Lalo. [Leave it alone, Lalo.]
george Carmen?
ramon Oye . . . ¡Wacha! [Hey . . . Check it
out!]
ramon pats lalo on the shoulder, points. They
see a car slowing down, looking for workers. They
take off.
lalo ¿Omar? ¡Jale! [Omar? Let’s go!]
juan Hey, where are those guys —
jimmy They go for work. They are not
running away. For what?
mauricio Not on your property. Not your
problem.
juan It is if they’re impeding them from
entering the parking lot.
george What’s going on?
carmen You tell me.
george I want to know what you are —
carmen What does it look like we’re doing,
George? We’re talking to the workers out
here, with the protesters there we’re making
sure that things don’t get out of hand.
george I want to make sure of that too. Are
you planning anything?
mauricio Planning what?
ramon returns, shaking his head.
omar ¿Que pasó? [What happened?] Nothing?
ramon Nada. Está buscando a alguien que ya
concoce. [Nothing. The guy’s looking for someone
he already knows.]
juan This guy is always causing trouble.
Maybe you and he are up to something.
omar ¿Qué dice? [What did he say?]
jimmy Que andas, dice, buscando problemas.
[That you go around looking for problems.]
omar El se lo está buscando. [He’s the one
looking for trouble.]
ramon Este cabrón no hace mas que hablar
pendejadas. [That asshole doesn’t do anything
but talk shit.]
juan I understand what you are saying.
ramon ¿Y qué? [So what?] I understand you
too.
omar stays.
85
gar c é s
carmen Why don’t you tell me what’s going
on George. You guys aren’t helping anything.
The problem is only going to get worse if
you create more tension than the protesters
already have out here.
george What would help, would be if you
were to stay in the center, and everybody else
went home.
mauricio Home, George? Back to Mexico?
Why don’t you go pick up a sign and start
screaming?
george I may not agree with those people
over there but they have a point. A bunch of
men in the street harassing patrons, women,
getting in the way, throwing garbage all over
the —
lalo returns.
omar Garbage? Puro pedo. Nosotros no
somos los únicos que hechamos basura. Por
aquí pasa mucha gente. [Bullshit. We aren’t the
only ones who litter. A lot of people come through
here.]
juan No soliciting.
omar ¿Que dice? [What’s he saying?]
ernesto No le hagas caso. Ese baboso no
hace mas que ladrar como un perrito chillón.
[Don’t pay any attention to him. That idiot
doesn’t do anything but yap like a whiny little
dog.]
carmen Well, George, that’s why we’re out
here.
omar Cuidadito, que alguien le va a romper
la madre. Y allí verá. [Careful, little man,
someone’s going to bust you up.]
juan What?
ramon Nothing.
carmen We’re trying to convince them to
come back to the center, and most of all not to
get into it with the protesters.
george Look, the more difficult you make
my life, the harder it’s going to be for you.
With what happened, I think it would be best
all around if you didn’t stir things up. The
protesters are the least of your problems.
lalo Man, you people always come up
with the same bullshit. It’s tired, man. Ain’t
nobody messing up this street. Nobody but
your customers. You think we want to stand
around in trash all day? Man, somebody does
that, we are all over him.
jimmy Sí. ¿Qué esta pasando? [What’s
happening?] What is the problem, George?
juan Oh, come on.
george You don’t know? Really?
lalo What?
mauricio What?
omar ¡Que huevos! Siempre nos hechan
la culpa, porque no hay nadie que nos
defienda . . . psss . . . [What bullshit! They
always blame us, because there is no one to defend
us . . . psss . . . ]
carmen No, George, I don’t.
jimmy Por eso estamos organizados. [That’s
why we are organized.]
juan Look. You guys aren’t allowed out here.
Period. Understand?
ramon I am allowed.
86
mauricio What did happen? What’s going
on?
george Juan, I’m on lunch. I’ll be across the
street.
juan Starbucks?
george Where else? You coming Carmen?
carmen What?
george You want to talk?
carmen What’s wrong with here?
l os il l egals
george Here? (A beat.) Why do you think
the California Patriots showed up today? This
many? The press?
carmen I don’t — What are you —
george One of our customers has accused
one of your workers of assault.
mauricio Who?
jimmy What?
carmen One of our —
george You want to talk or not, Carmen?
carmen Nos vemos en el centro. [I’ll see you
guys at the center.]
ernesto Orale. [Okay.]
george and carmen leave.
juan Make sure your people aren’t out here.
No one. Now. You heard him.
mauricio You never needed a job, man?
Whatever it took?
juan I never broke the law to get one.
lalo Job? That guy doesn’t want to work. He
wants to keep other people from doing it.
juan Just stay off of Giant property.
lalo Just stay out of my face.
juan stares at them. There is a beat, then he sighs,
looks away, then back.
juan Look, I’m Mexican too you know.
lalo Psss, I don’t care, man, I’m Salvadorean,
yo.
omar Que es mexicano este buey. [Yeah, that
guy’s Mexican. Right.]
ernesto ¿Mexicano? Orale, paisano, pues.
[Mexican? Okay then.]
jimmy You are Mexican?
mauricio Come on, guys.
jimmy If you are Mexican why you are doing
this job?
juan Because it’s my job. At least I have one.
jimmy That’s why we come here, to find one.
omar Oye cabrón, ¿hablas español? [Hey
asshole, you speak Spanish?]
juan Fine, then let me do mine.
mauricio No problem.
ramon We are not stopping you.
juan Just don’t cause any trouble.
lalo Man what are you going to do, arrest us?
juan You got a problem with English? Get
out of here.
omar Este mexicano es puro gabacho. [That
Mexican is pure gringo.]
lalo You ain’t a cop and we’re on the
sidewalk.
juan I’m serious.
lalo Yeah? Me too.
ernesto Andale, hombre, deja eso. [Come on,
man, leave it alone.]
mauricio Look, he’s just, with these people
here, it’s tense. That’s all. No trouble. Okay?
ramon Vamos, Lalo. [Let’s go, Lalo.]
lalo Your hands are shaking, man. Not good
for security. Don’t let your boss see that.
juan I said I’m serious.
mauricio Come on Lalo. Let it go, man.
lalo Okay. You’re serious.
omar, ramon, and lalo walk away.
jimmy Oye, mister Mexican, you should be
watching those across the street. The great
patriots who come and scream and cause the
problem. No one want to come to your store
with those people there.
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juan You’re at the center, right?
jimmy Yes.
juan Then go be at the center. I don’t want
you people out here.
jimmy It’s a free country, ¿que no? [Isn’t that
right?]
There is a pause. juan takes a step forward
toward jimmy. ernesto steps firmly in between
them, not aggressively, but with great authority.
They face off, then abruptly juan turns and
walks away. mauricio exhales.
mauricio Jimmy, man.
jimmy Pues. Free country. Como quien dice.
[Like they say.]
The sound of the protesters rises. Bullhorns and
whistles. We can hear what some of them are
saying. “What kind of American are you? You
are breaking the law!” “Day loiterers are ruining
our neighborhood!” “Hire a citizen!” “Patriotism
is not racism!” It gets louder and louder. A
cacophony.
Scene Seven — Afuera/Adentro
Lights down to two places. Silence. Then a
dim hum. Adentro, the bodies surrounding
rosenda are moving less, though they constantly
vibrate, as from shivering or the truck’s motion.
There is also a constant low moaning issuing
from some of them, and the sound of a muffled
baby crying somewhere in the darkness. She is
opening and closing her hands, trying to feel her
fingers. She puts her cold hands over her nose,
ears. The shivering is coming from her gut now,
inward-out as opposed to the shivering of her
limbs before. javier, afuera, is pale, unnaturally
so. His cheeks are blotchy. His eyes are irritated
and he seems to have some trouble blinking. His
tongue is thick and dry, his feet shuffle painfully.
The water jug hangs from his fingers, only
about an eighth left. His focus wanders, and his
88
body jerks occasionally. About halfway through
the scene he drops the water, as yet unfinished,
without noticing. Some seconds later he does,
without stopping his speech he staggers in circles
looking for it, gives up (even though it is at his
feet), moves in another direction from which he
was facing before.
rosenda/javier De lo malo viene lo bueno . . .
de lo malo viene lo bueno . . . eso es lo que
creo . . . mi creencia . . . de lo malo viene lo
bueno . . . sí . . . [From the bad comes the good
. . . from the bad comes the good . . . that is what
I believe . . . my belief . . . from the bad comes the
good . . . yes . . . ] I’m going . . . coming . . .
going to . . . Where? You . . . I’m coming to
you . . . I never left you . . . Who? It was you
before, but now I’m going where I . . . where
you . . . what? Home. Going home. Yes. I
can see it. Home. Am going. Where you . . .
do you miss me? Will I be missed. I miss . . .
I miss . . . Do they know I left? Left where?
I was . . . when . . . yes. Lo echo de menos.
Todo lo que no quería. Todo. El hambre y lo
que no teníamos y la enfermedad. Lo estoy
echando de . . . menos. Los niños. No vale la
pena pensar en . . . no vale la pena pensar. [I
miss it. Everything I didn’t want. All of it. The
hunger and what we didn’t have and the sickness.
I am missing . . . missing it. The children. It’s not
worth it to think about . . . not worth it to think.]
No. Yes I’m fine this is good this is just a little
bit more just a little bit farther that’s all it’s
okay no problem this is easy this is just a few
minutes I can do anything for a few minutes
just a few hours just another day one more
day that’s all I can do anything for one more
day anything this is easy this is just . . . just a
few more . . . just another minute or two,
a few seconds . . . one . . . two . . . three . . .
quatro . . . four . . . five . . . five . . . what?
five . . . six . . . cinco . . . seis . . . seven . . .
seven . . . eight . . . siete . . . ocho . . . siete . . .
diez . . . ¿como? ocho . . . ocho . . . this is
just . . . just a few . . . Esto es lo malo. Hay
que sufrir para llegar, para cambiar. Para
l os il l egals
lograr. Para lo bueno. Sin sufrir, me hubiera
quedado atrás. Ojalá . . . ojalá que me
hubiera . . . quedado . . . que me hubiera . . .
[This is the bad. You have to suffer to arrive,
to change. To achieve. For the good. Without
suffering, I would have been left behind. I
wish . . . wish I had . . . stayed . . . that I had . . . ]
Scene Eight — El Centro
El Centro is in an uproar. nathan and kim
are there. claudio works ever more furiously on
his painting. teresa sits in the midst of it all,
looking completely bewildered. We can hear the
voices and the noise of the protesters from farther
away.
jorge ¿Cómo nos pueden acusar? ¿Así no
más? ¿Somos culpables solo porque ellos dicen
que sí? [How can they accuse us? Just like that?
Are we guilty just because they say so?]
jimmy Claro, Jorge. ¿A quien le van a creer,
al que tiene papeles or al que no? [Of course,
Jorge. Who are they going to believe, the one who
has papers, or the one who doesn’t?]
loreto ¿Tienen ellos alguna prueba? [Do they
have any proof?]
jimmy Eso no importa. [That doesn’t matter.]
yolanda Ellos puden decir lo que quieran, y
la policia y los periodicos y todo el mundo se
lo van a creer. [They can say what they want,
and the police and the papers and everyone will
believe them.]
loreto ¡No hay derecho! [It’s not right!]
jorge Mira, esa vez que a mi me robaron,
supuestamente me llevaban a un trabajo
pero sacaron una pistola y me golpearon y se
quedaron con mi renta y nadie hizo nada. ¡Ni
vino la policia a investigar! [Look, that time
that they robbed me, supposedly were taking me
to a job but took out a pistol and hit me and got
my rent money nobody did anything. The police
didn’t even investigate!]
yolanda ¡Y ahora que un supuesto
ciudadano, un llamado americano — [And
now that a supposed citizen, a so-called
American — ]
jimmy ¡Que va, si nosotros somos más
americanos que cualquiera! [Man, we are more
American than anyone!]
yolanda — uno de ellos, de los dichosos
legales — [ — one of them, of the happy
legals — ]
carmen ¡Pero, por favor — [Come on,
please — ]
yolanda — acusan a uno de nosotros, no
importa ni si es la verdad — [ — accuse one of
us, doesn’t even matter if it’s true — ]
carmen — que con esta gritadera no vamos a
lograr nada! [ — yelling like this isn’t going to get
us anywhere!]
yolanda — todo el mundo viene a hecharnos
la culpa! [ — everyone comes to blame us!]
marisol ¡Carmen tiene razón! [Carmen’s
right!]
ernesto Es como en nuestros paises. Si uno
no tiene dinero uno no tiene el mas mínimo
derecho a justicia. [It’s like in our countries. If
you don’t have any money you don’t have any
right to justice.]
yolanda ¡Es peor, es peor todavía! ¡Por lo
menos allá eramos todos de la misma raza!
[It’s worse, much worse! At least there we were all
of the same race!]
loreto ¿Y ahora que van a hacer ustedes para
defender a nosotros, al centro, y al obrero que
van a acusar? [And now what are you going to
do to defend us, the center, and the worker that
they are going to accuse?]
jimmy ¡Eso Loreto! [That’s it, Loreto!]
carmen Eso es lo que estamos tratando de —
[That’s what we are trying to — ]
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gar c é s
jorge Esto lo veo muy mal. [This looks bad to
me.]
yolanda Yo también. [Me, too.]
jorge Esto lo veo como una escusa para
hecharnos de aquí. [This looks like an excuse to
kick us out of here.]
yolanda ¡Del centro, de la ciudad y del pais!
[From the center, the city, and the country!]
the other lawyers from United Day Laborers will
be here until things calm down in case there are
any problems with the police or — ]
yolanda El nunca ha estado aquí. [He’s never
been here before.]
marisol Bueno, no, creo que es nuevo. [Well,
no, I think he’s new,]
nathan What?
loreto ¡Sí! [Yes!]
yolanda ¿Nuevo? [New?]
mario Bueno, exacto, y ahora tenemos que
decidir que es lo que vamos a hacer. [Exactly,
so we have to decide what we are going to do.]
carmen Marisol . . .
carmen Es por eso que vinieron la señora
Kim Hae-Young y el señor Nathan Roth para
hablar con nosotros. [That’s why Ms. Kim
Hae-Young and Mr. Nathan Roth have come to
talk to us.]
nathan Yes. Sí. Hola. [Yes. Hi.] Uh . . . could
you, uh, translate? Uhm, I know that things
are tense right now, that much is obvious,
right? Uh, but we should, uh, try to stay calm.
We don’t even know if there is going to be
some kind of, uhm, formal accusation, so . . .
there’s no reason to get excited?
marisol Nos debemos de mantener
calmados. Ni se sabe si de veras van a acusar
a alguien. [We should stay calm. We don’t even
know if they are really going to accuse anyone.]
nathan I or one of the other lawyers from
United Day Laborers will be here . . . uh
. . . until things calm down or until some
resolution . . . in case of any problem with
the police or . . . with . . . anyone else? If we
can’t be here for some reason, Ms. Kim or
somebody else from Immigrant Action will
come down instead and —
marisol El o uno de los otros abogados de
Jornaleros Unidos estará aquí con nosotros
hasta que las cosas se tranquilicen por si acaso
hay problemas con la policia o — [He or one of
90
marisol What? It’s true.
nathan What’s true?
mauricio That you’re new.
nathan Oh, well . . . uh, yes, I’m, you know,
uh, sorry? . . . I mean . . . yes. Yes I am.
jorge Que bien . . . [Great . . . ]
ernesto ¿Y esta señora quien es? [And who is
this lady?]
jimmy Ella es nueva también. Hoy vinieron
los nuevos. Porque a los viejos se les hizo
tarde. [She’s new too. Today, the new ones came.
The old ones got tired of it all.]
carmen La señora Kim viene de Acción
para Inmigrantes, una organización —
[Ms. Kim comes from Immigrant Action, an
organization — ]
kim Yo no soy nueva. [I’m not new.]
jorge Pues, mira eso. [Well, look at that.]
ernesto . . . vaya, que la chinita habla
castellano . . . [ . . . look at that, the little Chinese
girl speaks Spanish . . . ]
marisol You speak Spanish?
kim Compañeros, hay muchas cosas que
hablar. Esta es una lucha dificil y necesaria.
Yo no hablo muy bien, así que voy a pedir que
alguien traduzca por mí. [Companions, there
l os il l egals
are many things to discuss. This is a difficult and
necessary struggle. I don’t speak very well, so I’m
going to ask that they translate for me.] We only
have a little time —
omar and ramon run into the center.
omar ¿Carmen? Oye, Carmen, a Lalo lo
arrestaron. [Carmen? Carmen, listen, they
arrested Lalo.]
carmen ¿Cuando? [When?]
ramon Ahorita mismo, lo acaban de llevar.
[ Just now, they just took him.]
nathan What happened?
mauricio They arrested one of the workers
from the corner. Guy named Lalo.
nathan One of ours?
maurico No.
omar Pero el no hizo nada. [But he didn’t do
anything.]
but you know that you can’t even touch one of
them, and they can’t touch you. That’s what they
wanted.]
omar Bueno pero a él le dijeron no sé cuantos
insultasos y Lalo no hizo nada hasta que el
tipo le vino y — [Well, but they insulted him
and Lalo didn’t do anything until the guy came
and — ]
marisol No importa, Omar. [It doesn’t
matter, Omar.]
carmen Apparently one of the “patriots”
lunged at Lalo screaming and he put up his
arm and I guess he touched him and that was
it.
nathan They really shouldn’t get into it with
them.
carmen We know. We’ve talked about it a
lot.
jimmy Is no so easy.
nathan Maybe not. But that’s the way it is.
jimmy ¿Qué no? Tan inocente . . . [Oh yeah?
So innocent . . . ]
jimmy O, yes, very easy for you to say.
kim Why?
nathan No, look, I’m just saying . . .
marisol Probably because —
ernesto ¿Qué pasa con el tipo este? [What’s
up with this guy?]
kim Ask him.
carmen ¿Por qué? [Why?]
omar El estaba discutiendo con uno de esos
tipos y otro, el calvo ese que se viste de pinche
Rambo y que anda siempre muy agresivo, le
gritó y le mentó la madre, y se le acercó y Lalo
levantó el brazo para que no se le hechara
encima. [He was arguing with one of those guys
and another, the bald one that dresses like fucking
Rambo and is always very aggressive, screamed
at him and disrespected him, and got close and
Lalo raised his arm so that he wouldn’t run into
him.]
marisol Ay pero ustedes saben que no
se puede ni tocar a uno de ellos, ni ellos a
ustedes. Eso era lo que ellos querían. [Oh,
kim No, it’s not. It’s not easy to say or to do.
ramon You don’t know.
kim Yes, I do.
nathan Uh . . . shouldn’t . . . shouldn’t we,
uh . . .
jimmy And what do you do when they scream
at you, when they say you are garbage?
kim I turn around and I walk away.
ramon When they say you are not a man?
nathan Carmen, we really . . .
kim There are better ways to be a man.
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gar c é s
Los Illegals, 2007.
Photo: John Luker
carmen Okay, bueno, sí, lo importante ahora
es que tenemos que mantenernos unidos y
decidir cual es el plan. [Okay, good, yes, the
important thing now is that we have to stay
united and decide what the plan is.]
kim We need to decide what our options are
if they use this incident in order to —
nathan Alleged incident.
kim Correct. Alleged incident. If they use it
to —
mauricio If we don’t send someone down,
not one of the workers is going to believe
anything we say. And they’d be right.
marisol It’s true.
nathan I really think we should.
kim Okay. Right, you’re right. Call and get
Veronica over there.
omar ¿Entonces? [Well?]
ramon What are you going to do for Lalo?
carmen Que van a mandar alguien a la
estación para estar con el. Un abogado.
[They’re going to send someone to the station to be
with him. A lawyer.]
mauricio Yeah, we can’t just leave him —
ramon Está bien. [That’s good.]
kim Right now, unfortunately, he’s the least
of our problems.
nathan Uhm, look, this is kind of crazy.
Shouldn’t we just talk in the office with
you guys and try to figure out some kind of
strategy and then we can, I don’t know, tell
them.
omar Oye, ¿y Lalo? [Hey, what about Lalo?]
mauricio You can’t just forget about him.
kim We won’t. But there are more important
things to think about right now.
nathan We can have someone go down to
the station.
kim You guys are understaffed as it is,
Nathan, and so are we, and with this
situation —
92
marisol “Us?” “Them?”
nathan You guys run the center, right?
carmen No, Nathan, we organize and
coordinate it for Jornaleros Unidos. But the
workers run it.
kim You should know that.
l os il l egals
marisol He’s new.
nathan You guys . . .
mauricio You could talk to the committee.
nathan Who’s on the committee?
marisol ¡Los del comité! [The people on the
committee!]
ernesto, jimmy, loreto, and yolanda raise
their hands.
kim I really think it’s going to have to be
everyone on this discussion.
nathan I just think it would be easier if not
everyone —
carmen Quieren saber si debemos de hablar
de esto con solo el comité, o con todo el
centro. [They want to know if we should talk
about this with just the committee, or with
everyone.]
jorge Yo creo que todo el centro, que aquí
todos somos iguales. [I think the whole center,
we are all equal here.]
jimmy Yo también. [Me too.]
ernesto ¿Pero no seria mas fácil si
habláramos de esto en un grupo mas pequeño
y ya despues abrimos la conversación al resto?
[But wouldn’t it be easier to talk in a smaller
group, and then later open up the conversation
with the rest?]
loreto Esto nos afecta a todos, Ernesto.
[This affects all of us, Ernesto.]
ernesto Claro que sí, pero — [Of course,
but — ]
mauricio No tenemos mucho tiempo. [We
don’t have a lot of time.]
ernesto Está bien, entonces. [Fine, then.]
carmen The whole group.
kim Good.
nathan Okay. With these possible
accusations of a robbery and assault, the main
concern is that Giant will fear a lawsuit and
try to shut down the center. Whether they
can do so legally is up in the air.
carmen Enfrentados con las posibles
acusaciones contra un obrero del centro de
robo y de asalto, creen que es muy posible
que Giant tratará de hecharnos de aquí.
[Confronted with the possible accusations of
robbery and assault against one of the workers
from the center, they think it is very possible that
Giant will try to kick us out of here.]
kim The people from California Patriots
aren’t going to make it any easier. Lalo’s arrest
is a good indication of that.
carmen Los que están protestando en contra
de nosotros, y hasta los que están allí tomando
nuestra parte, no van a parar. [The ones who
are protesting against us, and even the ones who
are there taking our part, are not going to stop.]
kim The protests have drawn the media,
I think channel nine and seven, and the
socialists and Mexican nationalists screaming
back at them just add to the noise. This isn’t
going to go away anytime soon, whatever
happens with the actual case.
carmen Esto es mas grande que un solo
caso. Ha atraído mucha atención. Ellos van
a seguir. [This is bigger than one case. It has
attracted a lot of attention. They are going to
continue.]
kim What they are hoping is to convince
voters or at least the city council —
Two police officers, gloria, who looks very
nervous, and brenda enter El Centro. george
and juan follow.
carmen Is there a problem, officer?
police officer #1 Yes, there is, ma’am.
We’re looking for one of your workers.
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police officer #2 Are you in charge here?
gloria No, not him, the other one.
nathan Carmen, I’ll handle this.
They turn to ernesto and omar.
police officer #2 You are?
loreto ¿Ernesto?
nathan Nathan Roth, I’m an attorney with
United Day Laborers, Officer . . . ?
ernesto Pues, yo no hice . . . ella miente.
No fue mi culpa. [I didn’t do . . . she’s lying. It
wasn’t my fault.]
police officer #2 Hernandez. We’re here on
a criminal matter.
nathan And we’re not standing in the way of
any investigation.
police officer #1 Ma’am, is this where you
came to hire the assailant?
gloria No, it was in the parking lot. That
man there was the one I spoke to.
police officer #1 indicates mauricio.
police officer #1 Him?
gloria Yes.
police officer #1 You remember her?
mauricio No. I don’t think so. I see a lot of
people in the parking lot.
police officer #1 Well, she hired someone
through you who may have —
gloria That’s him.
gloria is pointing over where jimmy,
ernesto, and omar are standing. All three stare
at her.
That’s the one.
gloria turns away. jimmy looks confused, starts
backing away, like he might run. The others just
stare back. police officers advance toward
them.
jimmy Mira, yo no he visto a esa mujer en
mi vida, así que — [Look, I’ve never seen that
woman in my life, so — ]
police officer #1 takes hold of jimmy’s arm, as
police officer #2 puts his hand on his holster.
police officer #1 Is this him, ma’am?
94
marisol No diga nada, Ernesto. [Don’t say
anything, Ernesto.]
ernesto Pero diles que . . . que no es verdad.
Eso es una mentira. [But tell them . . . that it
isn’t true. It’s a lie.]
carmen Ernesto, cálmate. [Ernesto, calm
down.]
ernesto No, no, no.
As the police officers approach ernesto, he
pulls away from them. It looks like the officers
will have to subdue him. There is a murmur in
the group. officers become aware that they are,
in essence, surrounded.
police officer #2 Okay. Everybody just stay
calm.
police officer #1 Stay back. I said, stay
back!
For a moment, it feels truly dangerous. All it
needs is a match, a spark, and . . . boom.
claudio Compañeros, amigos . . . no.
No vale la pena. Así perdemos todos, y
no ayudamos a nadie. Ernesto, estaremos
contigo. [Companions, friends . . . no. It’s not
worth it. This way we’ll lose everything, and help
no one. Ernesto, we will be with you.]
loreto Sí. Sí amigos, Claudio tiene la razón.
[Yes. Yes, friends, Claudio is right.]
A beat, and ernesto hesitantly nods. There
is a cautious relaxation in the group. The circle
around the officers and ernesto loosens.
police officer #1 You want me to get
backup?
l os il l egals
carmen That won’t be necessary, officer.
gloria follows.
police officer #1 Well?
marisol Wait, but he — he’s not even one of
our people, he —
police officer #2 No. I think we’re okay.
police officers face ernesto. omar
and ramon begin to leave the center as
inconspicuously as possible.
kim Marisol. No.
police officer #2 What were you saying?
police officer #1 Turn around.
kim We don’t have anything to say, officer.
No one here does.
But gloria is pointing at omar, who is slowly
moving away.
police officer #2 Okay. We’ll see about
that.
gloria No. Him. That one, the one who’s
leaving. He’s the one.
brenda They’re shutting this place down.
Finally.
omar freezes.
mauricio What?
police officer #1 That guy?
police officer #2 Did you have something
to say to me?
gloria No, not the big guy. The other one.
police officer #1 Look, ma’am —
brenda Are you sure, Gloria?
gloria Yes. No. Yes. Yes I am.
police officer #1 Look, just take your time,
and if you aren’t —
gloria I’m sure. Yes. Okay? Can I go now?
I’m sure.
brenda Good. I know this was hard.
police officer #1 grabs omar’s arms and
handcuffs him. He doesn’t speak. He just stares at
the other workers.
nathan Wait, you can’t just —
police officer #2 He has been identified as
a suspect in an assault and robbery. Of course
we can.
police officer #1 Let’s get him out of here.
police officer #1 leaves with omar.
kim You go ahead. I’ll stay.
nathan leaves with them.
police officer #1 Come on, ma’am.
marisol . . . No.
police officer #2 We’re going to need to
question all of you, so —
carmen You’ll need to provide a translator.
kim And not without a lawyer present.
police officer #2 Translator and a lawyer.
Okay. You another lawyer? Name?
kim No. My name is Kim Hae-Young.
brenda She’s with Immigrant Action, she
causes trouble.
police officer #2 Excuse me, who are you
here with?
brenda I’m a concerned citizen, and a friend.
kim She’s Brenda Freeman, California
Patriotic Residents. She makes noise.
george I’m going to have to ask you to leave.
You are trespassing on Giant Hardware
property. You people are supposed to stay
across the street.
brenda I’m here to help and support you in
getting rid of these people. We support the
victim.
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gar c é s
george I’m not going to ask you again. Juan?
kim Yes. What then?
juan moves toward brenda.
There is a pause.
brenda Fine. Why not? We’ve won.
teresa Este . . . este es mi primer día.
Solamente he estado aquí por una semana, y
no sé que hacer. Me dijieron que viniera aquí.
No tengo familia acá. No tengo otro lugar
donde irme. [This . . . this is my first day. I’ve
only been here for a week, and I don’t know what
to do. They told me to come here. I don’t have
family around. I don’t have anywhere else to go.]
brenda leaves.
juan What about her? (Indicates kim.)
marisol She’s with us.
george Leave it alone.
carmen George, thank you, this is so —
george Giant Hardware has obtained a
temporary injunction to shut down this site.
marisol What?
george We are petitioning the city to
permanently cease operation of this center.
You have until six o’clock tomorrow night to
vacate.
carmen But George —
george I’m sorry, Carmen. But that’s the way
it is.
george leaves.
police officer #2 There will be a patrol car
parked right outside. We will need names and
addresses as you leave the center. And we will
be enforcing that notice of eviction.
police officer #2 leaves. There is silence.
jorge Entonces . . . ¿Qué fué lo que dijo?
[So . . . what did they say?]
jimmy Nos echaron. Van a cerrar el centro.
Mañana. [They’ve kicked us out. They are going
to shut the center. Tomorrow.]
teresa ¿Sí? [Yes?]
kim No.
jimmy What?
kim I’m not going anywhere. Are you?
jimmy And when the police come?
96
claudio Bueno, no se preocupe. Que aquí
estamos. [Well, don’t worry. We’re here.]
marisol I’m not going anywhere.
yolanda Aquí estamos. [We’re here.]
jorge Yo no voy a ningún lado. [I’m not going
anywhere.]
pedro Ni yo tampoco. [Me, either.]
loreto Aquí vivo, y aquí trabajo. ¡Aquí
estamos! ¡Que se acostumbren! [I live here,
and I work here. We are here! So they better get
used to it!]
mauricio I’m not going anywhere.
ramon Yo no tengo pena. Y yo no tengo
miedo. [I’m not ashamed. And I am not scared.]
carmen I’m not going anywhere either.
claudio ¡Ni yo tampoco! [Me either!]
The rest of the workers respond “¡Yo tampoco!”
[ Me neither!] or “¡Me quedo!” [ I’m staying!].
jimmy ¡Si! ¡No hay porque tener miedo! ¡Nos
están imputando este delito a todos, cual, si
de veras ocurrió, era el crimen de uno! ¡Eso
no es justo! ¡No me voy! [Yes! There’s no reason
to be afraid! They are blaming all of us, when,
if it actually happened, it was the crime of one
man! That is not just! I am not leaving!] This is
where I work, this is where I stand. ¡Hay que
sentir coraje! ¡Hay que tener valor! ¡Esto no
ha terminado! ¡Esto ha comenzado! [You must
l os il l egals
feel anger! You must be brave! This has not ended!
This is just beginning!]
kim So let’s get to work!
enrique ¡¡Bueno, compañeros, ahora sí
que empieza nuestro trabajo!! [All right,
companions, now our work really begins!]
loreto ¡¡Manos a la obra!! [Let’s get started!!]
everyone but teresa ¡¡Sí!! [Yes!!]
There is a beat. jimmy looks at teresa. She
stands.
teresa Sí. [Yes.]
The sound of the protesters and counterprotesters,
dimly heard throughout the scene, rises and swells.
End of Act One
Interlude — La Esquina
We hear voices, all around but especially where we
have to go to leave. They are yelling, hectoring,
screaming, sneering voices. Passionate and angry.
And much laughter. All of this, on top of the noise
of sirens and bullhorns and rush hour traffic and
honking.
There are two groups crowding a narrow
pathway for us to walk down. They are screaming
largely at each other, though they also address us.
No one touches us, nor does anyone touch anyone
in another group, but they push it.
There are a cacophony of flags (American
and Mexican) and garish, vivid, ugly signs and
slogans both written and spoken. Among them:
“ MOTHERS AGAINST ILLEGAL ALIENS,” “ BORN IN
THE USA, DON ’T SEND MY MOMMY AND DADDY
AWAY,” “ IN PRISON BUSH [sic],” “ IMPEACH BUSH,”
(these last two on opposite sides of the divide)
“ LATINOS AGAINST ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION,”
“ FRIENDS OF DAY LABORERS,” “ NO ANCHOR
BABIES ,” “ STOP THE RAIDS! END THE TERROR !,”
“ RETURN TO SENDER,” “YOUTH SAYS NO MORE,”
“PATRIOTISM IS NOT RACISM,” “ ILEGAL ¿Y QUE?,
[illegal, so what?],” “ SUPPORT AMERICAN
WORKERS ,” “ MINUTEKKKLAN YOUR MINUTE’S
UP,” “ LA RAZA IS RACIST,” “ LOVE THY NEIGHBOR,”
“ ILLEGALS ARE CRIMINALS,” “ NAZI SCUM GO
HOME ,” “ HOMELAND INSECURITY: OSAMA LOVES
OPEN BORDERS ,” “ VIVA LOS TRABAJADORES
[up with the workers],” “ STOP ILLEGAL
INVASION,” “ STOP TEACHING OUR CHILDREN HATE ,”
“EMPLOYERS EXPLOIT DAY LABORERS,” “ HONK IF
YOU SUPPORT DAY LABORERS ,” “ HONK IF YOU ARE
AN AMERICAN,” “ CALIFORNIANS FOR POPULATION
STABILIZATION,” “ UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
ARE THE ENGINE OF OUR ECONOMY,” “ US JOBS FOR
US CITIZENS ,” “ CALIFAZTLAN,” “ WAKE UP IF YOU
DON ’T WANT TO LIVE IN MEXIFORNIA,” “ WE ARE
ALL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS .”
There is also a sign that is the California
flag and that depicts the famous road-sign
silhouette from the San Diego region of three
people, a man, woman, and child, running across
the highway — only now they are being chased by
the bear, who is almost upon the girl.
Flyers are thrust at us as we pass by.
It is hard not to get riled up, angry as
we walk this gauntlet, even though we don’t
know quite why. We are much more reasonable
than these people. These “ demonstrators.” These
“protestors.”
We notice that we are being videotaped as
we walk. Both sides are videotaping each other,
and thus us as we pass through, on cell phones and
cameras. And the police are there videotaping both
sides. And a camera crew from a news station,
videotaping the whole thing. What will we look
like on camera?
These people don’t want anything from
us. They don’t even want to be heard. They just
want to make this noise, want for us to know
they are there. We do. And we’d like it to stop,
but it doesn’t, won’t. It is a relief to be finally
through and away. But one has to enter again to
return . . . when we do, there are also workers in
their vests from the center handing out flyers.
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gar c é s
A c t Tw o
rosenda I have a present for you.
Scene Nine — Adentro/Afuera
javier Are you going to bed now?
javier, his breath shallow and rasping, is
standing, his body slightly twitching, in constant,
subtle motion. There is blood on his knees, his
elbows. He swallows painfully. rosenda is
among bodies that writhe excruciatingly slowly,
is surrounded by weak groans and whimpers.
She clutches her stomach, has given herself over
to the movement of the truck and constant
shivering. She is half-asleep, in a waking dream.
Even when there is a sudden jerk, and she bangs
her head or arm against one of the others or the
metal surface, she does not react. They each stare
fixedly out, in a daze, searching, searching. When
they speak, each has a thick Spanish accent, and
enunciates carefully, if not correctly.
javier This is my friend Peter . . . may I use
bathroom? . . . the dog is in yard . . . the cat is
very nice . . . a hotdog with fries . . . I like play
soccer very much . . .
javier/rosenda . . . this is very nice
sweater . . . would you like to come over to
my house? . . . it is very fun to go to the
zoo . . . can you help me find this address?
. . . I do not understand . . . do you speak
Spanish? . . . how much does that cost? . . . I
go movies tonight . . .
javier How are you?
rosenda Fine, thank you, and you?
javier Yes, thank you. What is your name?
rosenda My name is Rosenda. What is your
name?
javier My name is Javier.
rosenda Where are you from?
javier I am from Mexico.
rosenda How old are you?
javier October. When were you born?
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rosenda Yes, I would be happy to.
javier Excuse me, I am sorry.
rosenda It is not necessary.
javier Can you help me please?
rosenda Are you going to drive?
javier I am . . . no . . .
rosenda It would be very nice.
javier . . . no . . . no . . .
rosenda My favorite color is blue.
Suddenly. javier waves his arms violently as if
to ward off attackers.
javier . . . no . . . no no no . . . no . . .
He subsides, then slowly sinks to the ground,
looking out, his mouth open, his eyes wide. He
doesn’t move, except for the twitching. rosenda
continues speaking unhurriedly.
rosenda I am going to the store . . . may
I borrow the car? . . . come to swim in
my pool . . . do you know where to find
policeman? . . . please do not be upset . . . I
will come back later . . . is this on sale? . . . it
is seven o’clock . . . my mother is on vacation
. . . I will take the bus . . . yes, I would like to
have another —
Suddenly, there is a HUGE jolting sound, immense,
as if the truck were breaking open. rosenda and
the others are battered around, she cries out. At
the same time, javier heaves over, and releases
an inhuman sound of utter, terrifying despair.
Then, silence.
Blackout.
l os il l egals
Scene Ten — El Centro/
La Esquina
Our focus shifts throughout. marisol enters El
Centro.
mauricio Si alguien más quiere venir
conmigo a poner los flyers, vámonos. [If
anyone else wants to come with me to distribute
flyers, come on.] Where are the rest of the
flyers?
marisol Pedro should have them.
pedro Sí, aquí tengo los volantes. [Yes, I have
the flyers here.]
george Your brother. Yes. Where is he?
claudio He is coming, George. Está en
camino mi hermano. [My brother is on the
way.] He is coming.
george watches him work.
La Esquina. jimmy is watching the protesters.
He stands with a vest on and flyers in hand.
juan approaches.
jimmy I am on the sidewalk.
juan How come you aren’t up there
protesting?
george Is Carmen around?
jimmy No. Is no good. We have to make our
own protest. But not when they want. When
we want.
marisol No.
juan As long as it’s not on our property.
marisol goes into the office.
jimmy You own it?
george Mauricio, do you know where —
juan No.
mauricio No.
jimmy I don’t own anything either.
A group of men and women leave the space with
mauricio and pedro. teresa and claudio
stay behind. During this scene, the other workers
quietly continue to move throughout the space,
handing out flyers to us, protesters, etc. Or,
perhaps, if we can see the street outside, we watch
them give flyers to passersby. george looks
around, doesn’t see carmen. He walks over to
where claudio is painting.
juan I didn’t say I didn’t own anything.
george enters El Centro.
george Do you know where Carmen is?
claudio Hello, George.
jimmy Do you?
juan . . . No.
They watch the protest.
El Centro. marisol exits the office, looks over at
george, hesitates, then crosses over to teresa
with some papers for her to fill out.
marisol Tu primer día no ha sido muy fácil.
[Your first day hasn’t been very easy.]
claudio I am Claudio.
teresa Es igual a Oaxaca. Lo que está
pasando allá. [It’s just like Oaxaca. What is
happening there.]
george Right. Good. Listen, Claudio, can
you tell me —
marisol ¿Hace cuanto que viniste? [How long
has it been since you came?]
claudio You like?
teresa No, pues, una semana ya. Pero no he
podido trabajar todavía. [Well, now, a week
already. But I have not been able to work yet.]
george Hello. Uh, do you know —
george It’s very . . . yes.
claudio Mi hermano. ¿Sí? [My brother. Yes?]
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gar c é s
marisol Pues, espero que cuando esto haya
pasado, habrá una oportunidad — [Well, I hope
when all this is over you’ll have the chance to — ]
teresa Yo tenía que ir. Ellos me quitaron
todo. [I had to leave. They took everything away
from me.]
marisol ¿Los soldados? [Soldiers?]
teresa No sé. Hombres. [I don’t know. Men.]
marisol Pues lo siento que ahora está tan
mal por acá. [Well I am sorry that things are
now so bad around here.]
teresa No. No hay por que. Es la misma
lucha. Esto es necesario. [No, Don’t be. This is
the same fight. This is necessary.]
She bends over the papers, filling them out.
Another part of La Esquina. brenda sits on a
curb, drinking a Starbucks coffee watching the
protests from a different angle. kim walks up.
She, too, has a Starbucks coffee. She also has a
brown paper bag with a scone in it.
kim You mind?
brenda Free country.
kim That it is.
brenda Starbucks, huh?
kim Grande nonfat latte with extra foam.
You?
brenda Triple cappuchino with a shot of
caramel and three sugars.
kim You don’t mess around.
brenda No, I don’t. Thought you people
didn’t approve. Gentrification, all that.
kim We don’t. But we do like good coffee.
brenda I hear that.
kim Nice day. Too bad about all the noise.
brenda Well, some nasty noisy folks out
today.
100
kim On both sides.
brenda Maybe so.
kim Racists.
brenda On both sides.
kim Maybe so.
brenda You know what I’ve been called?
kim Know what I’ve been called?
brenda About every name in the book.
kim Even if you shut this place down. Not
going anywhere.
brenda Who?
kim Any of us.
brenda You think we are?
They watch the protesters.
Another part of La Esquina.
jimmy Where are you from. In México.
juan Uh, I was born here.
jimmy Sí, pero, su familia. [Yes, but, your
family.]
juan Somewhere in Veracruz.
jimmy You never been?
juan A small town.
jimmy Where in Veracruz?
juan You’re from Mexico?
jimmy Guatemala. Nahualá. Mi pueblito.
[My village.]
juan You miss it?
jimmy Bueno . . . [Well . . . ] is very many
problems there. No money.
juan Colatlán. Where my family’s from. I
miss it.
jimmy You have been?
l os il l egals
juan No.
teresa smiles. marisol goes back to the desk.
They look at each other.
La Esquina. kim is wolfing down her scone.
El Centro. teresa hands the papers back to
marisol.
brenda I don’t know how you can eat that.
teresa ¿Es nacida aquí? [Were you born here?]
marisol No. En El Salvador. Pero vine
cuando yo era una chamaca de siete años. [No.
In El Salvador. But I came when I was seven
years old.]
teresa Se le nota el accento. [I can tell by your
accent.]
marisol De gringa? [My gringa accent?]
teresa De salvadoreña. [Salvadorean.]
marisol Gracias. [Thanks.]
teresa Así que tienen papeles todos ustedes.
[So all of you have papers.]
marisol Carmen y Mauricio sí, pero . . . yo
no. [Carmen and Mauricio do, but . . . not me.]
teresa ¿Pero no dijo que se crió acá? [Didn’t
you say you grew up here?]
marisol Sí, pero, pues, no importa. Cuando
me gradué de la universidad, pues, ni modo,
siendo ilegal no pude trabajar, así que me
vine para acá, como voluntaria. [Yes, but, well,
it doesn’t matter. When I graduated from the
university, well, forget it, being illegal I couldn’t
work, so I came here, as a volunteer.]
teresa ¿Pero como gana la vida? [But how do
you make a living?]
marisol Trabajo de noche en un restaurante
japonés. Mi novio es hijo del dueño. [I work at
night at a Japanese restaurant. My boyfriend is
the owner’s son.]
teresa ¿Qué estudiaste? [What did you
study?]
marisol Soy ingeniera. [I’m an engineer.]
teresa Orale, pues. [Well, then.]
kim Hungry.
brenda The baked goods there are terrible.
kim True, but when you’re hungry . . .
brenda Maybe.
kim Do anything. Trust me.
brenda There are things I wouldn’t do.
kim Then you don’t really know what it’s like.
brenda I’ve been hungry. You don’t know
me.
kim Those people are hungry. For food. For a
better life.
brenda And there are things they should not
do.
kim Like what? Work?
brenda If it is illegal for you to even come to
this country, then —
kim If the law keeps families from eating,
people from working, then the law is wrong.
brenda Well, then change it, don’t break it.
kim We’re trying. Meanwhile people talk
about the law like they talked about “state’s
rights” before the Civil War.
brenda Don’t even. Those people, you
people, take our neighborhoods, our jobs, and
we’re supposed to step out of your way? My
brother, his one way out? The army. Another
brother in jail. You know what he’s guilty of?
Do you?
kim No.
brenda Of anger. He broke the law. Because
he was angry. And he’s paying for it. Still
angry. You know why?
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kim I can imagine.
carmen George, do you need something?
brenda I don’t think you can. You think I
don’t know hunger? What it’s like not to be
able to find work? I don’t hear you worrying
about the rights, about the poverty of my
people. Do I? Why am I even talking to you?
claudio No se preocupa, Carmen, estamos
aquí no más el George y yo, hablando del arte.
[Don’t worry, Carmen, we are just here, George
and I, talking about art.]
kim Brenda. I think what you want and what
I want are not so different.
brenda That right?
kim Good jobs. Good wages. Opportunity.
brenda We used to have that. My father,
he lost his hotel job, his pension, after
twenty-five years to a Mexican scab working
for half the pay. He wouldn’t work for nothing
so he didn’t work. They shouldn’t work for
nothing either.
carmen That right? Talking about art?
george I was, uh, just appreciating . . . his
work. He’s good.
carmen It’s his brother.
george I know.
claudio Sí, mi hermano. [Yes, my brother.]
carmen He doesn’t know where he is.
claudio El va a venir. [He’s going to come.]
carmen It’s been almost a week. No word.
kim No, they shouldn’t. No one should.
george On the border?
brenda So why do they?
carmen What do you think?
kim Why? Why do you think? Why’s your
brother angry, Brenda? Why are you?
claudio Sí. Está cruzando. [Yes. He’s crossing.]
brenda Why? Are you listening to me?
george Well, I hope he, uh . . .
kim Yes.
carmen Gets here? Another worker?
Another illegal?
brenda Can you hear me?
george Carmen —
kim . . . I’m trying.
carmen Another guy out there on the
corner?
brenda Are you?
kim Yes. Can you hear me? Can you try?
They look at each other, for a moment, then away.
El Centro. george is watching claudio.
carmen enters the space, sees george, looks over
at marisol, who is at the desk. She shrugs.
carmen Mauricio, get everyone together.
george looks up, sees her.
mauricio Okay. Hey! ¡Muchachos! (He
whistles.) [Boys!]
carmen walks over to george.
102
george I hope he’s okay.
carmen What do you want, George? What
are you doing here?
george I . . . look . . . I spoke to my boss, and
he . . . they’re going ahead. They’re going to
try to have the stay overturned. Petition the
city. They want you shut down. Whatever it
takes.
carmen Yeah? What do you want?
george I thought you should know, so I —
carmen Gee, thanks, George.
l os il l egals
george Look, I’m sorry, I —
carmen Sorry? You think “sorry” does us any
good?
george Nothing I can do.
carmen Oh yeah? There’s a lot I can do. I
guess I’ll have to do it.
george Well . . .
carmen You got something else to tell me,
George? Because I’ve got work to do.
george leaves.
claudio ¿Qué vamos a hacer, Carmen?
[What are we going to do, Carmen?]
carmen No sé, Claudio. [I don’t know,
Claudio.] I really don’t know.
Scene Eleven — Adentro/Afuera
The heat is shimmering. javier has clearly fallen
many times. His exposed skin is scorched. He
is panting, fast, and has trouble opening and
shutting his eyes.
javier Lo mato. Lo mato. Ese hijo de
una . . . de la chingada. Me dejó aquí . . . me
dejó . . . dis que iba a . . . a mandar el camión
. . . o mandar . . . lluvia . . . no . . . sí . . . agua,
dijo . . . que llueva, que llueva . . . la virgen
de . . . de . . . mojado . . . soy un mojado . . .
mojado seco . . . [I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him. That
son of a . . . of a bitch. He left me . . . left me here
. . . said he was going to . . . to send the truck . . .
or send . . . rain . . . no . . . yes . . . water, he said
. . . rain, rain . . . the virgin of the . . . (this last
is a children’s song, much like “rain, rain, go
away”) of . . . wet . . . I’m a wetback . . . a dry
wetback . . .]
His laughter is horrible, like a stuttering cough.
la virgen . . . un bautizo en . . . la agua helada
de . . . de sus lágrimas . . . virgen de . . . es
el río que veo . . . que veo . . . un río coagulado
. . . por cuerpos secos . . . que ví . . . lo mato
. . . solamente dos, tres horas . . . dos o tres
horas, caminando . . . llegarás . . . llegaré
. . . lo mato . . . por favor . . . por . . . no sé ni
donde . . . el mar . . . coyote . . . que volvía
. . . lágrimas de . . . lágrimas de arena . . . que
volvía . . . coyote . . . coyote de . . . [the virgin
. . . a baptism in . . . the icy water of . . . of her
tears . . . virgin of . . . the river I see . . . that I
see . . . a river coagulated . . . by dry bodies . . .
that I saw . . . I’ll kill him . . . only two, three
hours . . . two or three hours, walking . . . you’ll
get there . . . I’ll get there . . . I’ll kill him . . .
please . . . plea . . . I don’t even know where . . .
the sea . . . that he was coming back . . . tears
of . . . tears of sand . . . that he was coming
back . . . coyote . . . coyote of . . . ]
He howls, or tries to, his hoarse whistle sounds
more like the hiss of wind. Abruptly, he fumbles
for his fly, staggering, and pees into his cupped
hands. He stumbles, the water flows though his
fingers, he falls to his knees, licking his hands,
crying in a wheezing, dry rasp. No tears.
rosenda is no longer shivering, but rather her
whole body has subsided into a constant quiver.
We hear sighs all around her. She can barely
unclench her jaw.
rosenda A house . . . an apartment . . . just a
room . . . my own room . . . a radio . . . jeans
. . . not even that . . . not even . . . all I . . . I
want to feel like . . . like . . . not like this . . .
anymore . . . I’ve always . . . always felt like
. . . this, like . . . not to feel like . . . that’s
all . . . all I . . . just a bed . . . that’s all . . . all
I . . . somewhere to . . . to sleep . . . no, no
not to . . . no, not sleep . . . never sleep again,
never dream . . . this is what happens . . .
when you . . . when you dream. This is
what . . . dreaming . . .
javier raises his head, his mouth impossibly
wide, screaming silently at the sun. His tongue
flops around in his mouth spasmodically. This
subsides into a gaping rictus of desolate sorrow.
His dry breathing is faster, louder.
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javier . . . don’t care . . . don’t . . . if you never
find me, Claudio . . . don’t care . . . you . . .
I feel sorry for you, brother . . . it is so hard
for you . . . so hard . . . Claudio . . . don’t care
. . . I am nothing . . . no body . . . no voice . . .
no breath . . . I’m fire, that’s all I am, flames,
burning hotter than the sand, than the wind,
brighter than the sun . . . can’t see any . . .
can’t feel anything . . . but you feel, Claudio
. . . I know you feel . . . this . . . feel this . . .
you’re dying, Claudio . . . without me . . .
Her tremulousness builds into a shudder, and
rosenda begins to cough spasmodically. This sets
off an explosive wave of coughing around her. It
rises, then slowly ebbs.
rosenda Solo . . . una tele, mi propio cuarto
. . . ni eso . . . solamente . . . donde poner la
cabeza . . . eso no más . . . una cobija, es que
este frio, este frio es tan . . . tan . . . y si me
despierto . . . de este sueño . . . la pesadilla . . .
¿será lo que ha pasado? ¿o lo que pasará? . . .
y si no me despierto . . . si no . . . [ Just . . . a
TV, my own room . . . not even that . . . just . . .
somewhere to put my head . . . just that . . . a
blanket, this cold is, this cold is so . . . so . . . and if
I wake up . . . from this dream . . . the nightmare,
. . . will it be what happened? or what will
happen? . . . and if I don’t wake . . . if I don’t . . . ]
Scene Twelve — El Centro/
La Plataforma
jimmy has the floor. claudio’s painting has
greater depth and vividness. He has been working
without rest. He is covered in paint. teresa,
pedro, jorge, yolanda, and other workers
from El Centro are present, as are marisol,
mauricio, and kim, as well as ramon, one of
the workers from La Esquina. The demonstration
that we can hear from the street is still going
strong.
jimmy ¿Ya ven? Son los que no quieren
participar, los que no tienen sentido de
responsabilidad, de hermandad, esos son los
104
que estan causando nuestros problemas. Y
ahora la cosa se ha puesto peor, por lo que
hizo Omar. Yo no sé porqué tenemos que
apoyarlo. Ellos se comportan como criminales
alla en la calle y en las casas de la gente
donde trabajan. [You see? It’s the ones who don’t
want to participate, who don’t have any sense of
responsibility, of brotherhood, who are causing
our problems. And now it’s worse, because of
what Omar did. I don’t know why we should
support him. They act like criminals in the street
and in the houses of the people who hire them.]
mauricio Jimmy, pero como vas a decir
que — [But, Jimmy, how can you say — ]
jimmy No, Mauricio, con todo respeto, pero,
por favor, que ésta es mi opinion. Creo que
tengo la razón. [No, Mauricio, with all due
respect, but, please, this is my opinion.] Kim,
you understand me. Yes? Those people on
the corner cause all the problem. We invite
them to come here, to be with us, they don’t.
We take the classes here, learn English, give
support to each other, they, those people, they
like to be out there drinking and causing the
problem, and then we are the ones who have
the blame. Is not right. I don’t understand
why we should help them. We should fight
for the center. Let them fight for themselves.
They did not want to join. Is their problem.
mauricio ¿Sabes qué, Jimmy? Estás tratando
a los de la esquina como los americanos que
nos quieren botar de este pais nos tratan
a nosotros. [You know what, Jimmy? You
are treating the people on the corner like the
Americans that want to kick us out of here are
treating us.]
jorge Mauricio, ¿cómo puedes decir eso?
[Mauricio, how can you say that?]
mauricio ¿No es la verdad? Jimmy habla
de ellos como si fueran delinquentes en vez
de jornaleros como somos todos. [Isn’t it
true? Jimmy talks about them as if they were
delinquents instead of workers like all of us.]
l os il l egals
Los Illegals, 2007.
Photo: John Luker
jimmy Pues, lo son. [Well, they are.]
ramon Oyeme, no, eso no se pude decir. [No,
listen, you can’t say that.]
jimmy Bueno, lo dije. [Well, I said it.]
mauricio Pero no ves, Jimmy, que — [Don’t
you see, Jimmy, that — ]
pedro Mauricio, perdón, pero Jimmy tiene la
palabra. Deja de interrumpir, ¿sí? [Mauricio,
sorry, but Jimmy has the floor. Stop interrupting,
okay?]
jimmy Las autoridades quieren cerrar el
centro. Okay. Tenemos que hacer algo. Yo
creo que debemos de apoyar esta idea que
tienen los de la ciudad de cambiar la ley para
que sea illegal pedir trabajo en la calle. Si
nosotros nos ponemos de acuerdo con ellos,
ellos van a ver que el centro sí funciona, que
somos — [The authorities want to close the
center. Okay. We have to do something. I think we
should support this idea that the city has to change
the law so that it will be illegal to solicit work
in the street. If we come to an agreement with
them, they will see that the center works, that we
are — ]
ramon No, mira, hay muchos que no quieren
estar aquí esperando trabajo. Yo no veo la
razón por la cual — [No, look, many men don’t
want to be here waiting for work to come to them.
I don’t see the reason why it should — ]
yolanda Oye, aquí tenemos reglas. Cuando
el termine, va a hablar el que le sigue. Todos
tenemos un turno. Así es. [Listen, we have
rules here. When he finishes, the next one will
speak. We all have a turn. That’s the way it is.]
ramon ¿Sí? Pues, mira, mejor yo me voy.
Porque yo no quiero sentarme aquí a soportar
que me insulten sin poder responder. [Yeah?
Well, look, I’m out of here. Because I’m not going
to sit here and be insulted without answering
him.]
marisol Pero, Ramón, podrás hablar
después — [But, Ramón, you can talk after — ]
ramon No, no, ya me cansé de esto. [No, no,
I’m tired of this.]
yolanda Deje que se vaya. [Let him go.]
ramon exits.
jimmy Nosotros pudieramos trabajar juntos
con el George y los del Giant para convencer
105
gar c é s
a la cuidad que deben de pasar esa ley — [We
can work together with George and Giant to
convince the city to pass this law — ]
en el centro, y ya. Punto y aparte. [Look, the
solidarity I have is with my companions here in
the center, that’s it. Period, end of story.]
mauricio Kim, what he’s saying is —
kim Okay. What if they change the law, and
then, in a few months, or even years, they
close the center anyway? What then? What
do you do?
jimmy — para que todos los jornaleros,
o estemos aquí, en solidaridad, o que nos
hechen, si no estamos cooperando con la
ciudad y con Giant y con toda la comunidad
de este barrio. [ — so that all day laborers should
either be here, in solidarity, or they should kick
us out, if we are not cooperating with the city
and with Giant and with the community of this
neighborhood.]
kim Solidarity?
jimmy Sí. [Yes.]
mauricio He said —
kim I know what he said. Jimmy, you think
that by breaking with the workers that
don’t come here you will have some kind of
solidarity?
jimmy Yes, I think it will be better.
kim By going against them? By making it
illegal for them to be on the street?
jimmy Yes.
kim And what about those who think it is
illegal for many of you to be in this country?
jimmy Bueno, eso es algo diferente. [Well,
that’s different.]
mauricio ¿Como es diferente, Jimmy? Usted
quiere que sea ilegal que ellos estén buscando
su pan en la calle, mientras que hay muchos
que creen que somos criminales solo por estar
en este pais. [How is it different, Jimmy? You
want it to be illegal for them to be seeking their
bread in the street, while there are many who
think we are criminals for even being in this
country.]
jimmy Mira, la solidaridad que yo tengo es
con mis compañeros y compañeras aquí
106
jimmy Well, like we are doing now.
kim No. If they actually close it. We got a stay
on the injunction. But if the police were to
shut it down permanently, where would you
go? Not the corner. You’d get thrown in jail.
marisol Tiene razón, Jimmy. Si cambian la
ley, y ya después cierran el centro, ninguno de
ustedes podrá salir a la calle a buscar trabajo
sin que le arresten. [He’s right, Jimmy. If they
change the law, and then someday close the center,
none of you will be able to look for work in the
street without being arrested.]
yolanda Bueno, yo opino que la Marisol
tiene razón. Y esta señora. ¿Cómo es que se
llama? [I think Marisol’s right. And this lady.
What’s her name?]
pedro Kim, creo. Es de la china o por allá.
Es una hindú. [Kim, I think. She’s from China
or around there. She’s a Hindu.]
kim Korea.
pedro Eso. ¿Ya ves? Hindú. [See? I told you.
Hindu.]
jorge No, que la gente de allá son
mahometanos. [No, the people there are
Muslims.]
marisol Guys.
yolanda No esos son los árabes. [No, those
are the Arabs.]
jimmy No sean ignorantes, que los japoneses
son budistas. [Don’t be ignorant, the Japanese
are Buddhists.]
kim Koreans!
l os il l egals
yolanda No, allá en la china son todos
comunistas, no tienen religión. [No, in China
they are all communists, they don’t have any
religion.]
jorge No, pero, si hay musulmanes hasta en
México. Un amigo de un primo que tengo
en Tecate — [No, but, there are even Muslims
in Mexico. A friend of a cousin that I have in
Tecate — ]
marisol Guys, come on.
mauricio Mira, no podemos dejar que buscar
trabajo sea jamás un acto criminal. Eso sí que
no. Es básico. Es lo más importante. [Look,
we can’t allow it to be a criminal act to look for
work. No way. That’s the main issue. It’s the
most important thing.]
claudio Yo estoy de acuerdo con Mauricio.
[I agree with Mauricio.]
marisol ¿Ustedes que dicen? [What do you
all say?]
pedro Yo no. Yo estoy con Jimmy. [Not me.
I’m with Jimmy.]
jorge Yo también. [Me, too.]
The group moves, some with mauricio and
yolanda, the others, the larger part, with
jimmy.
kim So. What do you say, Jimmy? It seems to
be up to you.
jimmy Pues . . . [Well . . . ]
The door of the office opens, and carmen,
ernesto, loreto, and nathan come out.
carmen ¡Compañeros! ¡Chavos! ¡Atención!
Tenemos algo muy importante. [Everyone!
Boys! Attention! We have something important to
talk about.]
Everyone turns to them. carmen and loreto
look at ernesto. There is a pause. He shifts
nervously.
yolanda A ver, ¿que es lo que tienen que
decir? [Okay, what do you have to say?]
loreto Espere un momentico, Yolanda, que
esto no es fácil. [Wait a minute, Yolanda, this
isn’t easy.]
yolanda Bueno, pero aquí tenemos algo
importante que estamos resolviendo. Ustedes
deben de estar aquí con nosotros, en vez de —
[Okay, but we have something important we’re
trying to resolve. You should be here with us,
instead of — ]
loreto Sí, pero yo sé, mujer, es que esto es
parte de eso. [Yes, I know, woman, this is part
of that.]
ernesto takes the floor.
ernesto Hermanos y hermanas, yo . . .
es decir . . . esto es algo difícil pero . . . yo,
bueno, no hice nada, pero, no fue . . . por lo
menos no creo que fue Omar quien tuvo el
problema con esa señora. [Brothers and sisters,
I . . . that is . . . this is difficult but . . . I, well, I
didn’t do anything, but, it wasn’t . . . at least I
don’t think it was Omar who had that problem
with that woman.]
pedro ¿Y como lo sabes? ¿Eres un adivino o
qué? [How do you know? Are you a psychic or
what?]
ernesto Pues, porque fui yo el que trabajó
para ella. Fui yo, y no Omar. [Well, because I
was the one who worked for her. It was me and
not Omar.]
There is a general uproar. “¿Qué?” “¡No puede
ser!” “Fue Ernesto” [“What?” “It can’t be!” “It
was Ernesto”] etc.
kim Did I understand right?
carmen Yes. He was the one who worked for
the lady. Not Omar.
jimmy ¿Pero porqué no dijiste nada? [But why
didn’t you say anything?]
kim So it was someone from here? From the
center?
nathan Yes.
107
gar c é s
marisol Does that mean —
kim Yes. It’s bad.
mauricio Are you sure?
carmen I checked the log. When I showed
it to him, he admitted it to us. He worked for
her that day.
jimmy ¿Ernesto?
ernesto Pues . . . ¿Cómo voy a decir algo en
frente de la policia? ¿Para que me arresten? Yo
no le hice nada a ella. [Well . . . how could I say
something in front of the police? So they’d arrest
me? I didn’t do anything to her.]
jorge ¿Y porqué dijo ella que era el otro tipo?
¿Cómo es que se llama? Omar. [Why did she
say it was the other guy? What was his name?
Omar.]
ernesto No sé. Parese que no me reconoció.
[I don’t know. It seems like she didn’t recognize
me.]
yolanda Porque para ella todos nos
parecemos. [Because we all look alike to her.]
pedro ¿Sí no le hiciste nada a ella, entonces
ella porqué vino por acá? [If you didn’t do
anything to her, why did she come here?]
ernesto No sé. [I don’t know.]
jorge ¿Y ahora qué vas a hacer? [What are you
going to do now?]
loreto Pues eso es lo que estábamos
discutiendo. [Well, that’s what we were
discussing.]
yolanda No hay nada que hacer. Ella no
lo reconoció. [There’s nothing to do. She didn’t
recognize him.]
mauricio ¿Y Omar? [And Omar?]
yolanda Bueno, a el ya se lo llevaron, pues.
[Well, they took him already, so . . . ]
108
marisol ¡Ay, Yolanda! No estamos
bromeando. [Yolanda! We’re not joking around.]
yolanda Bueno, a decir la verdad, no sé.
[Well, to tell the truth, I don’t know.]
carmen Okay, mira, listen. Lo que pasó fue
que Ernesto trabajó por tres días sin que le
pagara. ¿No es cierto? [Okay, look, listen. What
happened was that Ernesto worked for three days
without getting paid. Isn’t that true?]
ernesto Sí. [Yes.]
carmen Y después el le dijo que no
terminaría hasta que ella le diera el sueldo de
los días ya trabajados. [And then he said that he
wouldn’t finish until he was given his salary for
the days worked so far.]
ernesto Sí, y ella no quiso. Y, pues, se enojó,
y yo me largué. [Yes, and she didn’t want to.
And, well, she got mad and I took off.]
kim When was that?
carmen ¿Fue la semana pasada, no? [It was
last week, right?]
ernesto Sí. [Yes.]
jorge ¿Sabes? Yo recuerdo que me lo dijiste.
[You know? I remember you telling me about
that.]
ernesto Sí, no tenía porque esconderlo. [I
had no reason to hide it.]
kim Did anything happen after they argued?
When she said she wouldn’t pay him for his
work?
nathan He didn’t really say.
marisol ¿Pasó algo después de que pelearon?
[Did something happen after you fought?]
ernesto Bueno, no fue una pelea. Reclamé
lo mío, y ella me dijo que no. Pero después
nada. [Well, it wasn’t a fight. I asked her for the
money, and she said no. That’s it.]
kim Did he register a complaint with you?
Because if he did then we can —
l os il l egals
marisol No. Unless he told you guys.
mauricio No.
carmen shakes her head.
kim But he’s supposed to, isn’t he?
mauricio Yes, he is.
carmen Oye, Ernesto ¿porqué no hiciste un
reclamo conmigo sobre esto? [Ernesto, why
didn’t you register a complaint about this?]
ernesto Bueno . . . es que . . . se me olvidó.
[Well . . . it’s just . . . I forgot.]
carmen He said he forgot to.
yolanda Pero, ¿cómo se le va a olvidar,
hombre? [How are you going to forget to do that,
man?]
ernesto Pues, así fue. [Well, that’s what
happened.]
jorge ¿Se le olvidó que no le pagaron? [You
forgot that she hadn’t paid you?]
ernesto Sí . . . o sea, se me olvidó decirlo
a Carmen. [Yes . . . I mean, I forgot to tell
Carmen.]
kim He really needs to tell us what happened
if we are going to do anything.
jimmy Ernesto. La verdad. [Ernesto. The
truth.]
claudio Sí, hombre. Estamos contigo, pero
hay que saber lo que pasó. [Yes, man. We are
with you, but we have to know what happened.]
ernesto Bueno . . . es que . . . se puso
caliente la cosa, no lo niego. Pero yo no
entendía lo que ella me decía, y no me pagaba,
¿sí? Y no era la primera vez que no me pagan
el trabajo. Yo entré a la casa para hablar con
ella, es que yo tenía que pagar la renta ese día.
Ahora estoy viviendo con mi cuate porque no
pude. Y, pues, yo creo que ella tenía un poco
de miedo, estaba sola en la casa, y . . . pues . . .
bueno, le alzé la voz, eso sí, pues me parecía
que ella me estaba ignorando, y después . . .
cuando salí de allí, tiré la puerta bien duro,
y . . . bueno, fuí adonde estuve trabajando y,
bueno, cojí un martillo y le chingué la pared
donde había estado trabajando, porque si
no me iba pagar lo debido, entonces no la
iba a dejar que se quedara con la obra de
mis manos, eso no es justo . . . ella me gritó
de adentro de la casa, como que me estaba
insultando, pero no salió . . . yo la insulté
también, ¿y qué? Yo no me voy a dejar que me
hablen de esa manera, no hay porque . . .
después me calmé, salí corriendo, pues,
porque tuve miedo de que me agarre el chote
y, pues . . . eso es todo. Yo no la toqué. Eso sí
que no. [Well . . . it’s just . . . it got heated, I don’t
deny that. But I couldn’t understand what she
was saying, and she wouldn’t pay me. You know?
And it’s not the first time that someone hasn’t
paid. I went into her house to talk to her. I had to
pay rent that day. Now I am living with a buddy
because I couldn’t. And, well . . . I think she was a
little scared, she was alone in the house, and . . .
well . . . I raised my voice, sure, she was acting
like she was ignoring me, and then . . . when I
left, I slammed the door and . . . I went to where I
was working, and, well, I grabbed a hammer and
I fucked up the wall where I had been working,
because if she was not going to pay me what she
owed me, then she wasn’t going to have the labor
of my hands, that’s not right . . . she screamed at
me from inside the house, like she was insulting
me, but she didn’t come out . . . I insulted her too,
so what? I’m not going to let anyone talk to me
like that, why should I . . . then I calmed down,
and I took off, well, because I was scared that the
police would get me and, well . . . that’s it. I never
touched her. No way.]
kim I got this right? She wouldn’t pay him so
he took a hammer and destroyed the —
nathan She alleges that he came into her
house, followed her from room to room,
threatened her, and then went outside,
was throwing things and vandalizing her
property.
109
gar c é s
mauricio Look, he . . . he’d been working
for three days, she still hadn’t paid, so . . . you
know, he had rent due and . . .
kim He shouldn’t have done that.
mauricio Of course not, but he was —
kim No buts. It’s unacceptable. It’s that kind
of thing that hurts everyone.
marisol So what do we do? We can’t leave
Omar in jail.
kim Of course not. He didn’t hurt this
woman in any way?
mauricio He went into her house, says he
thinks he scared her . . . but, no.
kim You believe him?
carmen Yes.
kim Then we go to the police, explain, and
fight for him.
jimmy No.
carmen What?
jimmy No. A Ernesto no lo vamos a meter
preso. Eso sí que no. [No. We aren’t going to put
Ernesto in jail. That is for sure.]
pedro Pero si Ernesto lo — [But if Ernesto
did — ]
jimmy No fué Ernesto. [It wasn’t Ernesto.]
jorge ¿Cómo así? Entonces, ¿quien fué?
[What do you mean? Who was it?]
jimmy Yo. Yo fui. [Me. It was me.]
jorge ¿Cómo? [What?]
ernesto ¿Qué? [What?]
kim What?
jimmy I did it.
ernesto Pero ¿cómo así? ? [But, what do you
mean?]
1 10
jorge ¿De qué están hablando? [What are you
talking about?]
yolanda ¿Usted lo hiso? [You did it?]
jimmy Sí. Y usted también. Y usted. [Yes. And
you too. And you.]
jorge ¿Yo? [Me?]
jimmy You, too. I did it and you did it.
kim . . . Okay . . .
jimmy ¿Eso no ha pasado a usted? ¿Que no
le pagen el sueldo? [Hasn’t it ever happened to
you? Not getting paid?]
jorge Pues, sí. [Well, yes.]
jimmy Y usted nunca quería reaccionar así?
[And you never wanted to react that way?]
jorge Pues . . . sí. Pero nunca lo hice. [Well,
yeah. But I never did.]
carmen Jimmy, si Omar es inocente, no lo
podemos dejar — [ Jimmy, if Omar is innocent,
we can’t let — ]
jimmy We are not going to put a worker in
jail. No.
kim One already is in jail.
jimmy So we have to get him out.
ernesto Tienen razón, Jimmy. Fui yo el
que lo hice. Soy yo el que lo tiene que pagar.
[They’re right, Jimmy. It was me who did it. It is
me who has to pay for it.]
jimmy No. Somos todos. ¿Hay alguien aquí
que no ha trabajado sin que le paguen? Hay
alguien aquí que no ha sentido ese rencor?
¿Que no haya sentido en su pecho el deseo, la
necesidad, de gritar? Es algo que cualquiera
de nosotros pudiéramos haber hecho. Todos
hemos tenido esas ganas. Fuimos todos.
Todos hemos sufrido lo mismo, todos hemos
luchado por lo mismo. Solos no podemos
nada, pero juntos, todo. Fuimos nosotros los
l os il l egals
que lo hicimos, y somos nosotros los que lo
tenemos que rectificar. ¿Sí o no? [No. It is all
of us. Is there someone here who hasn’t worked for
no pay? Is there someone here who hasn’t felt that
anger? Who hasn’t felt in his breast the desire, the
need, to scream? It’s something that any one of us
could have done. All of us have had that desire.
It was all of us. All of us have suffered the same,
all of us have fought for the same. Alone we can’t
do anything, but together, everything. It was we
who did it, and it is we who have to make good.
Yes or no?]
yolanda ¡Sí, Jimmy! [Yes, Jimmy!]
jimmy We will tell them that Omar didn’t do
it. That we did it! Every one of us! Even you.
Because we all suffer the same thing! Every
day this happens to one of us. Ernesto didn’t
do it! We all did it! If they are going to punish
us, they have to punish all of us!
kim That’s what they want to do.
jimmy And we will accept a fair punishment!
But not one that is against justice! And they
will have to look us in the eye. Every one of
us. We are not hiding. ¡Si nos van a castigar,
que nos castiguen por lo que hicimos! ¡No
atacamos a esa mujer! ¡Ella hiso mal, no pagó
por trabajo honesto! ¡Hicimos mal en dañar
su propiedad! Sufrimos juntos, luchamos
juntos, vencemos juntos! ¿Sí o no? [If they are
going to punish us, they have to punish us for
what we did! We didn’t attack that woman! She
did wrong, she didn’t pay for honest work! We
did wrong in damaging her property! We suffer
together, we fight together, we overcome together!
Yes or no?]
most of the workers ¡Sí! [Yes!]
jimmy ¿Sí o no? [Yes or no?]
all of the workers ¡Sí! [Yes!]
jimmy ¿Juntos? [Together?]
all ¡Sí! [Yes!]
kim And the men on the corner?
jimmy I talk to them.
mauricio I’ll go with you.
jimmy Vamos, pues. [Let’s go then.]
Scene Thirteen — La Plataforma
nathan stands in the glare of lights. He is
dressed in professional attire and is holding a
briefcase. There are others around him, though
we may or may not be able to make them out. We
hear a crowd. They are vocal and responsive to
his speech — both for and against.
nathan — paid his federal taxes for the
past four years — ever since he arrived in this
country. Who pays sales tax every time he
buys his kid a power ranger action figure,
every time he chips in for gas, every time he
has a Big Mac. Someone who doesn’t have a
single blemish on a nonexistent police record.
This is about a heated altercation between
an employer who was not willing to pay for
work that had been done, and done to the
employer’s specifications, and an employee
who allegedly overreacted. Who did not,
however, in any way, shape, or form attack
or harm his employer. It is a criminal act not
to pay someone the agreed amount for work
done — it’s robbery. And when you get robbed,
when an honest man who does an honest day’s
work has the bread for which he has labored
with his bare hands under the hot sun taken
away from him, he gets angry. Who wouldn’t?
It is the most basic social contract. And it was
broken. Was there property damage? Yes.
There was. Should there be restitution? Yes.
There should. Should he be paid for the hours
he worked? Again, yes. Yes. This is about an
employer who took advantage of the worker’s
perceived status, who discriminated against
him, to withhold from him a basic right: a
day’s pay for a day’s work.
111
gar c é s
As he speaks the crowd slowly fades to silence.
She did not take his status into account when
she hired him. Has she paid taxes on the
money she owes him? Was his work illegal?
His status has nothing to do with the reason
he was arrested, nothing to do with —
Scene Fourteen — La Plataforma
La Plataforma is now an immigration
courtroom. It can be rendered in great detail, or
simply indicated. There is a judge, there are two
lawyers, there are four rows of people sitting and
watching proceedings — in fact, the room is full.
When the translator is not loudly translating
English into Spanish, we can hear him
murmuring into the respondent’s ear, who has his
back to us at the top of the scene (or is otherwise
blocked from view).
judge That’s all very impressive, counselor,
but you’re not in front of the cameras now.
The alleged unfairness of the situation
notwithstanding, what I would like to
do is ascertain a few facts, not opinions. I
won’t have anymore grandstanding in my
courtroom, you understand me?
nathan Yes, your honor.
judge This is an immigration hearing, like
it or not. The criminal proceedings, such
as they are, are not germane to this process
except inasmuch —
nathan The criminal charges have been
thrown out, the accuser was unable to even
identify the correct worker, and the one
charge remaining has been reduced to a
misdemeanor —
judge I’m aware of the facts, Mr. Roth. Got
them all right here in this folder.
nathan With all due respect, your honor,
the only reason he is before you —
1 12
judge With all due respect, counselor, the
last time I looked this was my courtroom. He
is before me because there is no proof that he
entered this country legally. In fact, you have
asserted that he did not. Correct?
nathan Yes, your honor.
judge So what we are going to ascertain is
whether he is eligible to stay in this country.
nathan But there was no reason to expedite
this case, since —
judge Homeland Security chose to expedite
it. That is their prerogative. We’re moving on,
Mr. Roth. What I want to know right now, I
am going to ask your client. I appreciate your
passion, but this is not a television show. I
advise you not to interrupt me again. We on
the same page?
nathan Yes, your honor.
judge If you do —
nathan I won’t, your honor.
judge You just did.
nathan I’m sorry, your honor.
judge If you do, I will hold you in contempt,
and we wouldn’t want that. And you can
dispense with the “your honor.” Now, before
I start, Homeland Security, do you have any
questions for the respondent?
homeland security Not at present.
judge I find that the alleged incident does
pertain to these proceedings. Your thoughts
on the subject, councilor, are on record. I
am going to proceed with questioning the
respondent. Does Homeland Security have
any objection?
homeland security No, we don’t.
judge Does alien representative? I would
suggest, Mr. Roth, that it would be
inadvisable unless you have excellent grounds.
l os il l egals
nathan Uhm, no, your honor?
judge Will the respondent please come
forward.
The respondent stands. We see that it is ernesto.
He looks nervous.
judge Mr. Huerta, you are still under oath.
You understand that you must tell me the
truth?
translator Señor Huerta, sabes que todavía
estas bajo juramento. ¿Entiendes que tienes
que decir la verdad? [Mr. Huerta, you are still
under oath. You understand that you must tell me
the truth?]
ernesto Sí. [Yes.]
translator Yes.
judge Did you work for Gloria Rodriguez
of seven twenty-one North Camden Avenue
on the Wednesday, May seventh, at her
residence?
nathan Objection, I’m sorry, but, he —
judge Mr. Roth, my patience has long since
died, dried up, and blown away.
nathan I retract my objection, your honor.
judge Good call.
translator ¿Trabajaste para Gloria
Rodriguez, que vive en siete veintiuno norte
avenida Camden, el miercoles, siete de mayo,
en su residencia? [Did you work for Gloria
Rodriguez of seven twenty-one North Camden
Avenue on the Wednesday, May seventh, at her
residence?]
ernesto Bueno, no sé exactamente como
es el appellido de ella, ni donde vive. Es que
ella me llevó. [Well, I’m not exactly sure what
her last name is, nor where she lives. She took me
there.]
translator Well, I do not know exactly
what her last name is, or where she lives. She
took me there.
judge She’s sitting right over there.
translator Ella está sentada donde esta
indicando la juez. [She’s sitting where the judge
is indicating.]
ernesto Sí. El Lunes y Martes también.
[Yes. Monday and Tuesday as well.]
translator Yes. Monday and Tuesday as
well.
judge Was there an argument between you
over payment for your work?
translator ¿Hubo una disputa entre los
dos sobre el pago por su trabajo? [Was there
an argument between you over payment for your
work?]
ernesto Es que ella me dijo que me iba
pagar — [Well, she said she was going to pay
me — ]
judge Mr. Huerta, yes or no.
translator Señor Huerta, sí o no. [Mr.
Huerta, yes or no.]
ernesto Sí, pues. [Yes, then.]
translator Yes, then.
judge Listen carefully, and pay attention.
Did you damage her property in anger when
she would not pay you what had been agreed
upon? If you lie, you could face serious
charges of perjury.
translator Escucha bien, y ponga
atención. ¿Le dañaste la propiedad por causa
de rabia cuando ella no quizo pagar la suma
establecida entre los dos? Si mientes, puedes
estar acusado del crimen serio de perjurio.
[Listen carefully, and pay attention. Did you
damage her property in anger when she would
not pay you what had been agreed upon? If you
lie, you could face serious charges of perjury.]
1 13
gar c é s
ernesto Ella no me quizo pagar nada. Ella
dijo — [She didn’t want to pay me anything. She
said — ]
judge Yes or no.
translator Sí o no. [Yes or no.]
Pause.
judge Did you do it?
translator ¿Lo hiciste? [Did you do it?]
omar stands in the spectator area.
omar Sí. Yo lo hice. [Yes. I did it.]
judge You need to sit down, or I’ll have you
removed from my courtroom. What did he
say?
jimmy stands.
translator/jimmy/omar Yes. I did it.
judge All right, I’m calling sec —
Everyone in the spectator section stands. loreto,
lalo, pedro, ramon, teresa, jorge, and
yolanda are among them.
los jornaleros en la sala de justicia
[THE DAY LABORERS IN THE COURTROOM] ¡Sí! ¡Yo
lo hice! [Yes! I did it!]
A security guard enters. He seems confused.
judge All right. We need to clear the —
The whole space resonates with voices.
todos los jornaleros [ALL OF THE DAY
LABORERS] Yes! I did it!
The voices are HUGE.
todo el mundo [EVERYONE] ¡Sí! ¡Yo lo hice!
¡Yo lo hice! [Yes! I did it! I did it!]
There is a long, long pause.
judge Well, this is a new one.
114
Scene Fifteen—La Esquina—
Adentro/Afuera
rosenda is completely motionless, as are the
bodies around her. The way her body is contorted,
it looks as if she might be dead. She is, for the first
time, completely still.
javier is half naked, his clothes neatly piled at his
feet. His eyes have gone completely red. He stands,
vibrating in the air, just able to keep his balance.
They open their mouths at the same time. They
breathe together . . . a long sigh . . . they try to
speak . . . but cannot.
Scene Sixteen—El Centro
Suddenly, a loud burst of music: a hot band plays
in the clearing — Los Jornaleros del Norte — and
it has almost everybody dancing. If there is no
live band, then the music plays loud though an
old stereo. mauricio is dancing with teresa,
carmen with omar, marisol with jimmy,
jorge with yolanda, loreto is teaching
nathan, ramon is dancing with kim (who
is quite good), and others are dancing as well.
claudio, while moving to the rhythm, continues
to work on his painting, as always. It seems
almost complete. Under the canopy, where food
is piled on the tables and where there are a few
Christmas-type lights strung, pedro and lalo
are playing checkers. Food is being cooked upstage
of the canopy. Hopefully, there are lots of children
running around, babies crawling, wives and
husbands, more people than ever before in El
Centro. We still see, in their respective spaces,
javier and rosenda.
The band is in the middle of the cumbia “Sí
se puede” [“Yes We Can”]. The music rises,
and then ends. Applause, and a sad corrido
begins, much softer now. People drift back to
the tables and other parts of El Centro. The
party conversation, music, and playing never
subside, but we are able to hear parts of certain
conversations. There should be a seamless overlap
to them.
l os il l egals
marisol crosses over to where lalo and pedro
are playing.
marisol No lo han descargado todavía. [They
haven’t released him yet.]
marisol Oye, you guys, ustedes son los que
van a la casa de esa señora mañana a terminar
el trabajo de Ernesto. Es su turno. [Listen, you
guys, you are the ones who are going to that lady’s
house tomorrow to finish the job. It’s your turn.]
pedro ¿Y cuando va a salir? [When does he get
out?]
lalo I still don’t see why we are cleaning up
the mess that lady made. It’s her fault that —
marisol She paid Ernesto. We fix the
damage. That’s the deal. Problem?
lalo No. No problem. But why he’s still
locked up? I thought she agreed to —
marisol The charges were dropped, Lalo,
but his status is still up in the —
pedro ¿Donde está Ernesto? No le he visto.
[Where is Ernesto? I haven’t seen him.]
marisol No se sabe si lo dejarán o no. Oye,
ella los va a recojer a las diez de la mañana.
Ramón y Jimmy dijieron que no hay mucho
que terminar mañana. No les va a costar más
que medio día. [We don’t know if they will
release him or not. Listen, she’s going to pick you
up at ten in the morning. Ramón and Jimmy
said that there isn’t much left to do tomorrow. It
shouldn’t take more than half a day.]
pedro ¿Como es que se llama la mujer esa?
[What is that woman’s name?]
marisol Gloria.
teresa watches claudio paint.
1 15
Los Illegals, 2007.
Photo: John Luker
gar c é s
teresa Oye, no vas a dejar de trabajar
siquiera una noche? Esto es una fiesta, ¿no?
[Hey, aren’t you going to stop working for just one
night? This is a party, right?]
claudio No. Hasta que termine. Hasta que
llegue mi hermano. No estoy trabajando.
Estoy esperando. [No. Not until I finish. Until
my brother gets here. I’m not working. I’m
waiting.]
yolanda and jorge are with mauricio by the
office.
yolanda ¡Oye! ¿Donde está la cerveza? [Hey!
Where’s the beer?]
jorge Ni en broma, Yolanda, que aquí no se
puede. [Don’t even kid around, Yolanda, none of
that here.]
yolanda Pero es una fiesta, ¿o no? Nos
dejaron quedar. [But it’s a party, isn’t it? They
let us stay.]
mauricio Por ahora. [For now.]
yolanda Así que tenemos que celebrar,
hombre. [So we have to celebrate, man.]
mauricio Bueno, que le puedo — [Well, what
can I — ]
yolanda El George.
george and juan are approaching the center.
mauricio Yes? Can I help you?
george Just coming to see what’s going . . . I
mean to check in on . . . .
mauricio You can check. We’re not doing
anything wrong.
jimmy comes over.
jimmy George. You want a Coke?
george Sure. Yes. Gracias. [Thanks.]
jimmy De nada, George. [No problem, George.]
1 16
mauricio Looks like the city isn’t going to
shut us down, huh?
george Looks like.
mauricio How do you feel about that?
george Well, we’re not leaving if that’s what
you’re asking. Are you?
mauricio Does it look like we’re packing our
things?
george Well, there you have it. Salud.
[Cheers.]
jimmy ¡Eso, George! [That’s it, George!]
jimmy/jorge/yolanda ¡Salud! [Cheers!]
jimmy hands a soda to juan, who looks to
george, then smiles and takes it.
mauricio Salud, George. [Cheers, George.]
carmen has moved off to the side, sitting by
herself. loreto wanders over.
loreto Oye, ¿pero qué le pasa? Ganamos.
[Hey, what’s wrong? We won.]
carmen Ay, Loreto. [Oh, Loreto.]
loreto ¿Qué? [What?]
carmen Mañana tendremos que luchar otra
vez. La misma batalla de siempre. Hasta
nunca. [Tomorrow we will have to fight again.
The same battle as always. Forever.]
loreto Eso. Mañana. Ganamos otro día.
Eso es algo. [That’s it. Tomorrow. We won
another day. That’s something.]
carmen ¿Sí crees? [You think?]
loreto Es mucho. Vámos. Que la fiesta está
buena. Le compro una soda. [It’s a lot. Come
on. It’s a good party. I’ll buy you a soda.]
carmen Si la soda nos la dieron gratis. [The
sodas are free.]
loreto Por eso. Vámonos, antes de que se
acabe. [That’s why. Come on, before it’s over.]
l os il l egals
carmen No, mira . . . voy para allá en
seguida. ¿Ok? [No, look . . . I’ll come in a
minute. Okay?]
loreto Está bien. [Sure.]
kim and nathan are at one of the tables beneath
the canopy.
kim You’re lucky the judge has a sense of
humor.
nathan Yeah, I . . . yeah. Hopefully it’s a
good one.
kim That was some stunt.
nathan Uh huh.
kim You going to be in trouble?
nathan Just because everyone was yelling
and screaming in the courtroom?
kim Made a big splash.
nathan I’ll try not to drown in it.
kim You’re all right, for a new lawyer.
nathan You did all right yourself. For an
old . . . I mean, you’re not old, I mean . . . .
kim Careful. You think Ernesto will be able
to stay?
nathan I don’t know. Uh, you know, I’ll do
my best.
kim But what do you think?
nathan If the laws change? Maybe.
kim And if not? (There’s a slight pause.) Right.
nathan Yeah.
kim Not much for me to go back to. If I had
to.
nathan Where you from?
kim Suwon. Just south of Seoul. You?
nathan New York. Long Island. Massapequa.
On this coast a couple of years now.
kim Been here twenty years. Seven legal.
Easier then. Before I got my green card . . .
never felt like I was really . . . here, but I had
nowhere to go back to . . . in between is a hard
place to be.
nathan You a citizen?
kim No thanks.
nathan You worry about that?
kim Sometimes.
nathan Well, at least . . . you know, you
don’t have to worry about — I mean, you don’t
have to be in between anymore.
kim Maybe. I guess. The day I got it, I . . .
I opened the letter, there it was, lying there.
My name on it. This incredible anger rose
in me. I took off my shoe, started pounding
on it where it lay on the dinner table, I was
screaming at it, my girlfriend came running
in, asked me what the heck I was doing,
snapped me out of it, I don’t know. All of that
shit over a piece of paper. Isn’t even green.
nathan Girlfriend, huh? Right.
kim Yeah?
nathan No, I — no. Cool, that’s . . . cool.
kim Uh huh.
nathan You’re lucky she has a good sense of
humor.
kim Not so good. Ex-girlfriend. But yes,
lucky.
nathan Take more than luck for most of
these folks.
kim A lot of effort, a lot of time. You up for
that?
nathan I think so. Yeah. I think I am.
The noise of the crowd rises, laughter, music,
jokes, and arguments. claudio has stopped
painting. He takes several steps back from the
117
gar c é s
canvas, then crosses to it and paints, above or
below, “Javier.” There is silence, Everyone in El
Centro freezes.
javier has struggled to his feet. He seems almost
joyous; for one glorious moment, he looks clean
and strong. He looks exactly like the painting.
javier Oye . . . ¿hermano? [Listen . . .
brother?]
And then the lights fade out on him altogether.
Then a baby begins to whimper in a weak
voice somewhere in the silence. Suddenly, light,
blinding, on rosenda. With great difficulty, she
rises, stands, walks through a silent desolation.
rosenda ¿Qué pasó? ¿Qué está pasando?
¿Llegamos? ¿Donde estamos? ¿Llegamos?
[What happened? What is happening? Are we
there? Where are we? Are we there?]
There is no answer. She looks about her, dazed.
The lights seem to fade and then shift and the
time changes to a clear morning. rosenda crosses
into the space of El Centro. She looks hopeful,
somewhat lost. It is a new day. All are back to
the daily routine of waiting for work. No one
particularly pays attention to her, until teresa
notices rosenda and crosses to her with a
notepad in hand.
teresa Hola. [Hello.]
rosenda Hola. No se si este es el lugar que
busco. A mi me dijo un señor . . . [Hello. I
don’t know if this is the place I’m looking for. A
man told me . . . ]
teresa No se preocupe. ¿Esta es su primera
vez en el centro? [Don’t worry. Is this your first
time at the center?]
rosenda Sí. [Yes.]
teresa Mira, porque no viene a sentarse
conmigo. [Look, why don’t you come and sit
with me.]
118
rosenda Pues, no sé si debo de estar aquí.
[Well, I don’t know if I should be here.]
teresa ¿Busca trabajo? [Are you looking for
work?]
rosenda Sí. [Yes.]
teresa Pues entonces, este es el lugar. [Well,
then, this is the place.]
rosenda crosses over with teresa to her table.
They sit and drink coffee.
As ernesto enters El Centro, everyone turns
and stares at him. There is a long moment, then
jimmy goes to him.
jimmy ¿Entonces qué? [What’s up?]
ernesto shrugs.
ernesto Pues. Aquí estoy. [Well. I’m here.]
They hug. As the others gather around ernesto,
shake his hand, pat him on the back, suddenly
there is a squawk on marisol’s walkie-talkie.
She listens.
marisol ¡Chavos! ¡Oigan! Necesitamos cinco
hombres para una mudanza! [Guys! Listen! We
need five men for a moving job!]
mauricio Acérquense a la mesa los que estén
interesados. [Anyone who is interested go to the
table.]
Everyone crosses to marisol. She shakes the
bucket, draws out names.
marisol Jorge . . . Pedro . . . Ramón . . .
Jimmy . . .
Workers variously respond to their names being
called (or not) as the lights fade to black. Curtain
call.
l os il l egals
E n d o f A c t Tw o
Postshow—El Centro
As we get up to leave, life in El Centro continues.
Folks sit around, awaiting the call. mauricio
is at the desk. He has the walkie-talkie. Several
of the workers are there, but not all, and they are
arrayed much as they were at the beginning of the
play. omar is among them. The walkie-talkie
squawks. mauricio listens, reaches into the box,
calls out “Yolanda Guevara y Hernán Algarrobo.”
They cross to him, take vests, and leave El
Centro. claudio is not there. His painting of
javier is. mauricio continues to call out names
occasionally. “Andres Muñoz.” “Ernesto Huerta.”
And they get their vests and leave. At some point,
carmen sees rosenda, crosses to her with some
papers. She begins to fill them out.
Available!” and “Support Your Neighborhood
Day Laborers.” These have addresses and phone
numbers of local day labor centers.
Everyone, workers and others, is thanking
us for coming, shaking our hands, making contact.
Looking at us. And we are looking back at them.
We are seeing each other.
Again, quiet, but not silent.
Epilogue—La Esquina
As we leave we hear noise of the city, a normal
morning, not quiet, but not loud. The ambient
sound of cars, voices.
We walk through workers and others, a
few of whom are quietly holding signs. These are
much simpler, the colors are not strident. “Make
Our DREAM Come True,” “We Have Families,
Not Agendas,” “Ningún ser Humano es Ilegal
[No Human Being is Illegal],” “A Better Life
for ALL Workers,” “Unidad Jornalera [Day
Laborer Unity],” “These Hands Build Your
Houses, These Hands Care for Your Children,
These Hands Pay Taxes,” “Workers Are Not
Disposable,” “Soy Tu Vecino, Soy Trabajador, Soy
Inmigrante [I’m Your Neighbor, I’m a Worker,
I’m an Immigrant].” They are clearly homemade,
though there is also a beautiful banner up to one
side. It has faces, workers, and a simple message
on a sky-blue background. All of the workers are
wearing vests and handing out flyers: “Workers
1 19