Vanguard | August 02, 2011 | 2 comments

Meet Filemon, an undocumented farmworker from Oaxaca: Scenes from 'Vanguard'

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In this scene from "Vanguard," correspondent Mariana van Zeller visits the flophouse in Oxnard, California, where Filemon and 19 other farmworkers live while they pick strawberries. The money Filemon and his son Moises earn picking strawberries is sent back to their home in Oaxaca, Mexico.

There are 12 million people living unlawfully in the United States. In "This (Illegal) American Life," van Zeller explores the lives of two of them: a senior at UCLA named Ilse who crossed the border from Mexico in the trunk of a car at age 3 and a strawberry picker named Filemon who lives in an Oxnard flophouse with 19 other people so that he can send money back to his family in Oaxaca. In their stories, van Zeller finds testament to both the power of the American Dream and the absolute failure of American border policies.

For more from this episode, go to http://current.com/shows/vanguard/episodes/season-five/this-illegal-american-lif....

"Vanguard" is Current TV's no-limits documentary series whose award-winning correspondents put themselves in extraordinary situations to immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show's correspondents, Adam Yamaguchi, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller, serve as trusted guides who take viewers on in-depth real life adventures in pursuit of some of the world's most important stories.

For more, go to http://current.com/vanguard.
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    VANGUARD Correspondent, MarianaVanZeller Correspondent
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2 comments // Meet Filemon, an undocumented farmworker from Oaxaca: Scenes from 'Vanguard' // Video

  • Osman_Yaman
  • slacker080
    • 0
      slacker080  

    • I am amazed that no one has commented on this but noooo don't kill a man on death row because the citizens will unite! I grew up in the city of Oxnard.In 1986 it was the the worst place to live in america at one point.population has doubled and the farm owners sell drugs to the workers for better and faster slave labor. African americans always cry about being slaves and being discriminated against,Mexicans are still getting discriminated and they are the modern day slaves.Cancel your unemployment and go work in the fields, "get america back to work".How is it that cartels kill more people next door but across the world in a "false flag" war we put more money into private corperations than into our own protection here at home.how did he get over hear with all money were spending on national security and how in the hell is he working on
      "pleasent valley farm" picking "youngs"strawberries, without papers and the farm owners aren't being investigated. i could go on for dayyyys.

    • 8 months ago

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