Many of the nicest homes in Pajacuarán were built with wages earned in the Washington tree-fruit industry. Martín Rodríguez remodeled his mother's house in Pajacuarán after a 1985 earthquake, sending her money he made as an orchard foreman in Manson, Chelan County. Josefina Alejo prayed for her son every day when he was smuggled over the border and pampers him when he comes home. He misses his hometown but became a U.S. citizen so his children could have an American education.