Chope's, opened in La Mesa, New Mexico in the 1940s, is an unlikely memorial to the Bracero Program and a time when Mexican laborers were courted by the U.S. government
to restore a “severely deteriorating” farm in Socorro, Texas, that’s believed to be the last remaining bracero-processing site. In La Mesa, however, reminders of the braceros are everywhere.small abandoned stucco buildings dot the edge of the chile fields and pecan groves, hugging the side of the road.
Braceros had a different experience in La Mesa compared to farming communities elsewhere: This part of the country, after all, had onceMexico. Many had come to work on farms in this region long before any official agreements had been struck; Americans and Mexicans were not only more comfortable living together, but many shared ancestry. In La Mesa, they had access to the ingredients and dishes that they had grown up eating — tortillas, sopes, tamales, rice, and more.
Through the act of sharing the Benavides family’s story, Chope’s connections with the braceros became clear. Hartell, whose grandfathers had been braceros, immediately recognized the significance of the sisters’ stories about how on Saturdays, after payday, braceros came to the restaurant for the luncheon plate that Guadalupe created especially for them: hearty meals like pork chops or sirloin, salad, rice, beans, and tortillas, ideal fuel for hard labor.
Photos of José and Guadalupe Benavides on the wall at Chope’s. Lupe died in 2016 at the age of 98; José died in 1990
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