Out of work and sleeping in the fields.
by David Bacon
Near Reedley, on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, several men sleep in the field. They get creative in building their own shantytown.
Humberto comes from Zihuatanejo in Guerrero.
Pedro, who wears an earring in his ear, comes from Hermosillo in Sonora. Ramiro comes from a tiny town in the Lancandon jungle of Chiapas, about halfway between Tapachula on the coast, and Palenque, the site of the Mayan ruins.
None of the men has worked more than a few days in the last several months. The riteros (people with vans who give workers rides to the fields to work) won’t pick them up, because they say they live with the vagabundos (vagabonds). The men use bicycles for transportation.
The rancher who owns the land has abandoned the orchard where they sleep. A number of other fields in the area are also abandoned.
