Even native-born American citizens who are sympathetic with undocumented immigrants have very little understanding of how families cope when some members have immigration status and others do not. The PBS special, “Fruits of Labor,” portrays the shadow that hangs over such a family when the mother could be deported, leaving four American-born children behind.

Primarily the portrait of a teenage girl supporting her family by picking and sorting strawberries in Watsonville, California, the video includes an agonizing scene in which she and her mother discuss with a lawyer the ways—adoption? legal guardianship?—she could protect her younger siblings if her mother has to leave. 

Life is not always unforgiving for young Ashley, but even as she brings bravery and humor to responsibilities no 18-year-old should have to bear she wonders—reasonably—whether she has a future. It’s a question appropriate for thousands of Hispanic youth working in poorly paid agricultural jobs in California and elsewhere. 

An in-depth interview with the documentary’s producer/director Emily Cohen Ibañez complements and provides context for Ashley’s tale.