Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Mariachi man

“I was just starting high school when my parents got a letter of deportation."

Jimenez says Francis Parker was only 2 percent Latino. "I was what you would call an outlier.”
Jimenez says Francis Parker was only 2 percent Latino. "I was what you would call an outlier.”

Southwestern College professor Jeff Nevin has been teaching Mariachi music for 20 years. Proceeds from concerts he organizes fund $20,000 in annual scholarships for music students. His teaching clinics help keep Mariachi alive. But Nevin says Mariachi took a post-Trump hit. His clinics and concerts rely on Mexican musicians. Many, he says, have stopped coming.

“It’s gotten real bad,” Nevin says. “They cross the border with their instruments. Because [border agents] are clamping down on people who have proper work visas, some just stopped coming.”

Nevin points to local violin maestro Jesus Jimenez, 21, as the ugliest example of immigration grief he’s encountered.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I was born in San Diego but my parents weren’t,” says Jimenez, who was raised in National City. He first learned to play Mariachi at age five. His extraordinary ability led to private lessons, a wunderkind buzz, and a full four-year scholarship to private Francis Parker High School near USD. “I was just starting high school when my parents got a letter of deportation. They had to leave the country. My two older sisters already had places of their own.”

Jimenez says his parents’ move to Rosarito (“They haven’t been back since”) has left him to fend for himself ever since. “The reason why I didn’t go with my parents is because they wanted me to use my scholarship and keep studying music.”

Jimenez says Francis Parker was only 2 percent Latino. “I was insecure a lot. I was what you would call an outlier.” But his biggest struggle was home life. He says the “six or seven” families he ping-ponged with during his high school years never got the violin thing.

“They discouraged me from playing music. They didn’t see benefits. I couldn’t practice. They were more into Ivy League schools and math and science. Because I had to take the bus I had to get up at 4:30.” He says with music lessons, “sometimes I wouldn’t get back until 9 at night.”

Jimenez now supports himself by giving private lessons and hopes to return to college in the fall. “But even when I was at rock bottom I never let it get me down, because that’s what my parents would want. I was fortunate because music opened a lot of doors for me. But what about the trauma to all the other families? To those people who did what they did to my parents, I say, ‘May they have mercy on whoever they are going to get next.’”

Jesus Jimenez appears Saturday, June 24, at the Ballet Folklórico 26th Dia del Folklore Mexican Dance Festival at San Diego City College's Saville Theater.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
Next Article

Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas
Jimenez says Francis Parker was only 2 percent Latino. "I was what you would call an outlier.”
Jimenez says Francis Parker was only 2 percent Latino. "I was what you would call an outlier.”

Southwestern College professor Jeff Nevin has been teaching Mariachi music for 20 years. Proceeds from concerts he organizes fund $20,000 in annual scholarships for music students. His teaching clinics help keep Mariachi alive. But Nevin says Mariachi took a post-Trump hit. His clinics and concerts rely on Mexican musicians. Many, he says, have stopped coming.

“It’s gotten real bad,” Nevin says. “They cross the border with their instruments. Because [border agents] are clamping down on people who have proper work visas, some just stopped coming.”

Nevin points to local violin maestro Jesus Jimenez, 21, as the ugliest example of immigration grief he’s encountered.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I was born in San Diego but my parents weren’t,” says Jimenez, who was raised in National City. He first learned to play Mariachi at age five. His extraordinary ability led to private lessons, a wunderkind buzz, and a full four-year scholarship to private Francis Parker High School near USD. “I was just starting high school when my parents got a letter of deportation. They had to leave the country. My two older sisters already had places of their own.”

Jimenez says his parents’ move to Rosarito (“They haven’t been back since”) has left him to fend for himself ever since. “The reason why I didn’t go with my parents is because they wanted me to use my scholarship and keep studying music.”

Jimenez says Francis Parker was only 2 percent Latino. “I was insecure a lot. I was what you would call an outlier.” But his biggest struggle was home life. He says the “six or seven” families he ping-ponged with during his high school years never got the violin thing.

“They discouraged me from playing music. They didn’t see benefits. I couldn’t practice. They were more into Ivy League schools and math and science. Because I had to take the bus I had to get up at 4:30.” He says with music lessons, “sometimes I wouldn’t get back until 9 at night.”

Jimenez now supports himself by giving private lessons and hopes to return to college in the fall. “But even when I was at rock bottom I never let it get me down, because that’s what my parents would want. I was fortunate because music opened a lot of doors for me. But what about the trauma to all the other families? To those people who did what they did to my parents, I say, ‘May they have mercy on whoever they are going to get next.’”

Jesus Jimenez appears Saturday, June 24, at the Ballet Folklórico 26th Dia del Folklore Mexican Dance Festival at San Diego City College's Saville Theater.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego seawalls depend on Half Moon Bay case

Casa Mira townhomes sued after losing 20 feet of bluffs in storm
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader