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How a Mexican Migrant Farmer’s Journey to the U.S. Turned Fatal (full documentary) | FRONTLINE/World

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Source: PBS Frontline
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  • description: The tragic story of a migrant farmer’s journey to the U.S. in the scorching heat. (Aired June 2004) This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now: https://bit.ly/47DFzCb And support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate In “Mexico: A Death in the Desert,” which aired in June 2004, correspondent Claudine LoMonaco documented the story of one migrant worker’s life and death. Like many men from Oaxaca, Mexico, Matias Juan Garcia Zavaleta crossed the U.S.-Mexico border regularly each spring to work in California during harvest time and returned in the fall. He used his earnings to build a home and take care of his family. After years of annual crossings, Garcia had had enough of leaving his family, so he planted his own chili pepper crop. But when an early frost destroyed his plants, he was left with no choice but to cross again in the spring of 2003, but this time the crossing turned fatal. This FRONTLINE/World short documentary traced Garcia’s journey and the impact of his death on his family. “Mexico: A Death in the Desert” was reported and produced by Mary Spicuzza and Claudine LoMonaco. It was produced in association with UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. The founder and executive producer of FRONTLINE was David Fanning. We are making episodes from FRONTLINE/World’s archive newly available here on YouTube and on pbs.org as part of an effort to make our past reporting widely accessible. Originally developed by FRONTLINE producers in conjunction with public television stations KQED San Francisco and WGBH Boston, FRONTLINE/World launched in 2002 as a national public TV series that turned its lens on the global community, covering countries and cultures rarely seen on American television. The series completed its final broadcast season in 2010. Explore more about FRONTLINE/World and this film on the legacy website for the series: https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/ #Documentary #Mexico #Oaxaca #UnitedStates #Immigration Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PBSfrontline Sign up for our newsletter: https://frontline.org/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinepbs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontline Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/frontlinepbs.bsky.social FRONTLINE/World was a production of GBH in Boston. The executive producer was David Fanning. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and The Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - The Story of One Migrant Farmer From Mexico 04:15 - What it Was Like Crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border in the mid-2000s 10:26 - The Aftermath of Garcia’s Death in the Arizona Desert 18:06 - Credits
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