A Handful of Stars

Migrant workers, who move seasonally or temporarily for employment, represent a vital yet often overlooked part of the American workforce. Hailing predominantly from other countries, these workers bolster key sectors of the United States’s economy, though their role often goes unappreciated. Salma’s family’s experience during Maine’s blueberry harvesting season encapsulates common challenges foreign-born migrant workers face while working in the agricultural industry.

Migrant farmworkers typically endure arduous working conditions, spending long hours in scorching weather and experiencing precarious living conditions, such as a lack of adequate housing or healthcare. This reality is aggravated by the agricultural industry’s reliance on undocumented labor, which fuels a profit-driven system that prioritizes expediency over safety and worker welfare. A lack of oversight and fear associated with one’s undocumented status further breeds a cycle of exploitation. Moreover, unlike other sectors, agriculture allows children as young as 12 to join the harvest. This exception, illustrated in Salma’s story, disrupts children’s schooling, hindering their educational development and creating a cycle of disadvantage within migrant communities.

Salma’s family story also encapsulates foreign-born migrant workers’ struggle to adapt and integrate into American communities. They grapple with suspicion and being treated as outsiders. Preconceived notions from Americans create barriers to efforts to engage with the communities they encounter. Even for those like Salma who speak English, the transient nature of migrant work disrupts their sense of belonging. Each season, workers are forced to uproot themselves, making it difficult to forge lasting connections and chipping away at their sense of community.

Lily and Salma’s friendship shows how empathy and understanding can counter the cultural and linguistic divides that isolate migrant families. Lily’s acceptance challenges the assumptions that cast suspicion on migrant communities, demonstrating that genuine human connection can dismantle even the most deeply entrenched prejudices.