Fruits of Labor (2021)

This 74-minute documentary by PBS is part of their series called "Point of View." The power of the film is how it forces us to consider a complicated political problem from the vantage point of a deeply human personal story. Ashley is a Mexican-American teenager who was born in the United States and lives near Santa Cruz, California, with her undocumented mother and three siblings. Her mother has been in the United States for 22 years, and cleans houses seven days a week. They share a house and one bathroom with 12 other families. Ashley narrates most of the film, and explains how as the oldest child she must support the family. She works in the strawberry fields by day and then from 10pm to 6am she works at a food processing plant. So, she observes, "I barely go to school." This puts her dream of graduating from high school at risk, as do the ICE deportation raids that have reached her own neighbor downstairs. "I don't know what my future will be," says Ashley. "I feel an enormous weight on my back." I watched this movie from the PBS website.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net