Campus Ministry Tours Watsonville Farms

Visit fosters knowledge of housing insecurity among migrant farmworkers

Santa Clara has a responsibility to share in the lives of Northern California farmworkers, according to Victor Lemus, the campus minister for the Community Justice Foundation. 

Lemus accompanied 16 students on the Farm Worker Reality Tour in Watsonville, meeting with farmworkers who help provide food for the world’s fifth-largest economy. The aim of the trip was to understand the difficulties they encounter on a daily basis. 

“Communities like that keep us accountable as a university for the mission that we hope to strive for,” said Lemus.

Establishing a relationship with the farmworkers was a valuable takeaway from the visit, according to Lemus, who emphasized that the university, given its commitment to solidarity, should foster a mutual connection with the Watsonville community. 

Freshman Lauren Sundin expects that opportunities to visit these California farms will inspire more student interest in the future, especially given the prevalence of organic farming in the area. 

“I’m hopeful because these farm tours are bringing awareness,” she said. “In Watsonville, 20% and rising of the farms are organic with people working on it, and our generation is especially aware.”

This university can provide a foundation for students to explore the problems the farmworkers endure. Referring to Santa Clara as a valuable “home,” Lemus encouraged that this learning be coupled with a return back to campus to share what they have learned with the community. 

“A good home you know can always return to, but you shouldn’t stay here,” said Lemus. “There should be a going out, not just to give, but to receive.”

The over half-million California farmworkers are integral to the state’s agribusiness, as they are responsible for producing more than two-fifths of the nation’s vegetables and over three-fifths of the nation’s fruits and nuts. 

Nonetheless, they face substantial housing insecurities and lack appropriate political and economic representation. 

During their first stop at Crystal Bay Farm, students listened firsthand to the lived experiences of farmworkers and their families. Many faced challenges immigrating to the U.S., including a family who dangerously trekked through the desert at night to reach the country. 

This was followed by a visit to the Buena Vista Migrant Camp, where students learned about the “50-mile rule.” 

The regulation, enforced by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, requires farmworkers to leave their state-subsidized housing and move at least 50 miles away for three months to be eligible for housing the following year. 

The law previously meant that migrant families needed to change school districts twice a year, disrupting their children’s access to a consistent education. 

According to Lemus, this law reinforces conditions where the economic and educational mobility of children is harmed.

“You’re talking about uprooting folks for several months out of the year,” he said. “You start seeing kids drop out of school, and potentially working in the fields, which is not typically what the parents want.” 

Proponents of the rule claim it ensures that the state-funded housing maintains an allocated population of migrant workers who cannot live near their place of work. Opponents argue that it destabilizes the livelihoods of migrant families. 

An exemption to the 50-mile rule, which was passed in 2018, established that children can stay enrolled in the same school with their families residing in the subsidized housing year-round. The passing of the exemption points to progress for securing migrant family rights.