Como Vivimos (How We Live)

In California’s Central Valley, hundreds of Latinx youth miss months of school annually, because they live with their families in one of the state’s farmworker housing centers. These subsidized apartments require families to move out each winter and relocate at least 50 miles away before being allowed to return in the spring. These cycles of displacement come at a high cost to families’ futures.

In California’s Central Valley, hundreds of Latinx youth miss months of school annually, because they live with their families in one of the state’s farmworker housing centers. These subsidized apartments require families to move out each winter and relocate at least 50 miles away before being allowed to return in the spring. These cycles of displacement come at a high cost to families’ futures.

In the spring, migrant farm workers arrive to one of California's 24 migrant housing centers to try to "win" the apartment lottery. If they and their family are lucky enough, they have to follow the rules of the state in order to live there, including moving 50 miles away once the center closes for the season, leaving school-age children with only a part-year education.

After moving into the housing centers in the spring, migrant farm workers are ready for the growing and harvesting seasons that come with agricultural work. Some people are young and just starting out while others have been farming for decades and are used to the temporariness of the lifestyle.

Students like José Modesto are absent from school to no fault of their own. Their parents are migrant farm workers and are allowed to live near their school for only part of the year when the housing centers are open. Where do they go in the off-season? Families must live 50 miles away as part of state housing rules and so with the rising cost of unsubsidized housing, most go to Mexico.

José Modesto and other migrant high school students attend school for part of the year due to California's strict state housing rules. This not only means they are missing out on academics but time to make friends, commit to afterschool activities like sports and clubs, and go to key social events. In such vulnerable coming of age years, the mental health of students is tested.

Jessica Romero, a high school student, talks with her guidance counselor, Jessica Muñoz, about spending her senior year away from her family. She is staying in California while her parents must remain in Mexico due to the state's migrant laws that mandate they do not live in the area for at least 3 months.