Most parents of Edcouch-Elsa or La Villa students have never finished high school and have a limited grasp of English. The wages have been habitually low, and the work hard and never-ending. Often whole families, as well as individuals, traveled established migration routes to such states as Utah, Wisconsin, and, especially, Michigan, seeking work as agricultural laborers. Even today, approximately 40 percent of Edcouch-Elsa High School students follow the crops with their families. Within a few weeks, the school population can expand or shrink by hundreds of students.
Many students attend two school systems.
Ray Garcia, a La Villa High School student, expresses an intimate connection between the earth and heaven as he depicts work in the fields. Over time, agriculture has declined and unemployment has grown. Local school systems are the largest local employers. For all the transience and economic uncertainty, however, family and community ties run deep. There is a great love of place which makes young people hesitant to leave and which draws many of those who have left back home again.