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Young farmworkers: rough life, tough decisions

The Vasquez family has members who are eligible for the federal "deferred action" program. They are part of a second wave of applicants, after the educated urban youths, who are applying to get work permits and a two-year reprieve from deportation. Elvira Vasquez, right, plucks chickens as her son Miguel, 4, left, and niece Lydia, 4, stand nearby.

The Vasquez family has members who are eligible for the federal “deferred action” program. They are part of a second wave of applicants, after the educated urban youths, who are applying to get work permits and a two-year reprieve from deportation. Elvira Vasquez, right, plucks chickens as her son Miguel, 4, left, and niece Lydia, 4, stand nearby.   (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Some young immigrant farmworkers, including many from the Central Valley, are eligible for the “deferred action” program that gives them a reprieve from deportation. But those who have had to put education on the back burner as work trumped schooling now have to make tough decisions about how they will proceed.
Read more: Education is missing key for some young immigrants

Kitchen duty

Vasquez family members gather in the kitchen of their Madera, Calif., home. Angela, center, is blind and taking community college classes. Her sister Elvira, left, who dropped out of high school after her son was born, could use GED classes to qualify for deferred action. At rear right is their other sister, Isabel.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Backyard chores

Francisca Vasquez kills chickens in her backyard in preparation for a meal of pollo mole, a typical dish of the family’s native state of Oaxaca in Mexico.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Religious devotion

Jose Vasquez, 7, is reflected in the window of a shrine dedicated to the patron saint of Oaxaca that the family has erected in their backyard. Jose’s father, Benito, might be eligible for the deferred action program, but he works 10 hours per day and doesn’t know if he has time for schooling.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Goal-oriented

Angela Vasquez has been described by her sisters, including Isabel, left, as intense and ambitious. Angela, who is blind, is attending classes at Fresno and Madera community colleges. Her commute is sometimes as long as three hours round trip.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Mom and son

Elvira Vasquez and 4-year-old son Miguel walk home from her sister’s house through the streets of Madera.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Hopes and dreams

Angela Vasquez hopes to get proper documentation and a job as a court translator.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Long day

Benito Vasquez greets 4-year-old daughter Lydia after he gets home from another 10-hour workday.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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