Fresh Air Comic Cristela Alonzo
Dec 29, 2025
Cristela Alonzo, a stand-up comedian and actress, shares her journey from living in an abandoned diner to achieving success. She discusses the warmth and challenges of growing up in a mixed-status immigrant family and how ICE raids shaped her childhood. Cristela reflects on the impact of her mother's bravery and arranged marriage, and how humor helps her humanize immigrant experiences. With insights into her struggle for independence and her passion for activism, Cristela's storytelling is both heartfelt and enlightening.
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Childhood In An Abandoned Diner
- Cristela Alonzo grew up squatting in an abandoned diner for the first seven years of her life with a toilet outside.
- Her mother raised four children alone after leaving an abusive husband and worked double shifts for years earning about $150 a week.
Childhood Duty To Protect Her Mother
- As a child in McAllen, Cristela and her siblings would stage tantrums to distract Border Patrol from their undocumented mother.
- She says having U.S. citizenship as a child felt like wielding power mixed with constant stress to protect her family.
Mother's Bravery And Cultural Constraints
- Cristela's mother came from a conservative Mexican village where arranged marriages and even kidnapping forced women into submissive roles.
- Her mother left an abusive husband and became the first woman in her family to choose independence despite having little education or English.