Editor’s Note: The following interview was done by Marjorie Stoneman on behalf of Whitewater Unites Lives.
Jose Cano’s parents came to the U.S. from Guadalajara, Mexico when he was five years old. Now 40 years old, Jose has been working to become a United States citizen. Currently, he is in the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and must register often to keep his driver’s license and permit to work. And work he does.
Jose works full-time as an automotive technician in Delavan, volunteers full-time for the Delavan Fire Department, and is raising five children with his wife in Delavan. But his American journey began in Whitewater.
When Jose came to the United States with his grandfather and parents at age five, he did not know English. The family lived at the Twin Oaks Trailer Court and Jose attended Washington Elementary School, where he learned English.
When he was in Middle School the family moved to Delavan to join a church there. His grandfather, parents and siblings have all since become United States citizens. Jose, though, continues in limbo through the DACA program.
After high school, he wanted to become a Marine, but because of his legal status, he was unable to. Now, he says, he is so grateful that his children are United States citizens and can be whatever they want to be.
“It’s frustrating that we get our hopes up and then we get pushed to the ‘back burner.’ It is very stressful,” he said of the DACA program.
Yet he has a giving, caring, warm, friendly disposition, and is raising his family to be helpers. He tells his eldest son, “If you see someone in need, do what you can to help.” Not long ago Jose received a Life Saving Medal for “Ten Successful Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Saves” in connection with his volunteer service with the Delavan Fire Department.
But Jose has taken his caring nature beyond Wisconsin borders.
In 2014 he and his family drove to Arkansas to help the families devastated by a tornado that killed 16 people. He, his wife and son filled up their minivan with supplies and delivered them. He remembers his son taking his own toys and giving them freely on his own to a family that lost everything.
In 2017, he and several co-workers, with the contribution of a truck from Kunes, delivered supplies to help victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. He was so grateful to the Delavan community members who helped fill the truck with donations. He said it was eye-opening to see how the community responded to help a different community – to help a human cause.
“Working together we can accomplish good in society, regardless of color, background, or where you are from,” said Jose. “I wish it was more like that every day, where people value and respect each other regardless of color.”
Jose also donates his spare time to help local people as a board member of the Open Arms Free Clinic and as a member of Voces de la Frontera. In Whitewater, he was one of the first to join the recently-formed Immigrant Support Coalition. He is pleased about the group, and thankful that “people see us as human – they don’t just see where we are from or the color of our skin, but they look at us a human beings.” He is glad to be a part of the group because Whitewater is his childhood home.
Jose is also grateful that Whitewater Police Chief Dan Meyer is supportive of driver’s licenses for all people in Wisconsin, regardless of legal status. He says many people need to go to Illinois to be trained to drive and receive a driver’s license, but that is not always practical for families. He says making sure that all drivers are trained and get insurance is a necessity and a safety issue.
WUL (Whitewater Unites Lives) is a locally-focused civil and human rights group that works to connect the people in our community and to create opportunities for all people to learn and support each other in our common humanity.
