Tamales From the Heart

In the last newsletter, we told the story of a couple from El Salvador who make tamales every evening to sell in the early morning hours by the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora. Since that writing, there have been problems with permitting. 

As street vendors, they need work permits to sell in a specific area. The Port of Entry is always busy, making it the best place for them to sell. After days of Pancho reaching out to his various connections, he finally secured permits that allow them to sell from sunrise to noon. This was a huge relief to them (and to us), as one of the reasons they left their home country was that they could no longer do business freely on the street. Extortion was rampant, and it became too dangerous for them.

One night, while at the apartments, we had the opportunity to visit with them while they cooked. Tamale-making is labor-intensive, and little did I know that our amiga starts the process with fresh corn. She and her husband are a well-oiled, tamale-making machine, and we learned a lot about their life in El Salvador and their journey north to Nogales while they were cooking. And we also got to enjoy some of their delicious tamales the next day!

If you’d like to learn more about our migrant brothers and sisters, who we have the pleasure of serving, subscribing to our newsletter is the best way to get more in-depth stories and images.