Made in L.A.

P.O.V., the best independent point-of-view documentary.

Next on P.O.V., Los Angeles is the center of America's garment industry,

but many of its factories resemble turn-of-the-century sweatshops.

Watch as three immigrant women unite in the struggle for better working conditions.

Made in L.A., only on P.O.V.

Stay tuned following this program to hear from the filmmakers

and to find out how you can share your point of view.

This program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Major funding for P.O.V. has been provided by the

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,

the National Endowment for the Arts, which

believes that a great nation deserves great art,

and by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you. Thank you.

We were afraid, but we couldn't let fear paralyze us.

We had no choice but to fight.

What happened?

I was born and raised in a ranch in Mexico.

When I met my husband, I was 14 years old.

That's why he was my only boyfriend.

We got married.

We came back here.

Here we are.

How old are you?

I'm 18 years old.

I love you.

Look at you.

How cute.

When we got here, I started working in sewing.

I worked 10, 11, 12 hours a day.

I got a job here.

The woman made us work fast.

She didn't let us eat or go out.

She gave us a door with a key.

She made me work.

I had to work here until I finished it at 1 or 2 in the morning.

I was sleeping in the machine.

I kept working because I needed work.

In this machine?

Yes, here in this machine.

And here in this chair.

No!

Aracely, no.

What did you do to him?

I hit him.

No one wants to hit him.

Sometimes I felt like he was going to hurt me again.

I was desperate.

My whole body hurt.

I thought it would be different to study here.

I wanted to have a career.

I was happy.

I was full of hope.

The birds were singing.

The moon was shining.

The sun was shining.

What a poetry.

I just threw it.

What a mess my sister has.

Beauty is hard.

Okay.

Okay.

Oh, my God.

I have to get my eyebrows out.

They look like two blowers.

I was born in Mexico.

Federal District.

I have five feet.

They were always laughing at me.

They were defending me.

I was a fighter.

I didn't leave anyone behind.

Yeah.

That's nothing.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Nothing, nothing.

I don't know if you can see half.

Half natural.

See?

Look.

Nothing, almost.

My sister worked here.

In a sewing factory.

She called me on Wednesday.

And on Monday I was here.

In Los Angeles.

That's how my life is in less than a week.

I brought this so we can look at it.

So we can look at it there.

With cockroaches, I think.

When was that movie you told me about?

In 1987.

My sister had it.

And look how it's all full of cockroach poop.

You're crazy.

Here are the three girls from La Maura.

And that's what I hope to see you too.

At that time there was no electricity.

But it's a life that...

Very beautiful.

That you miss.

I started to see the toilet.

It's not another toilet.

Like the chango we're waiting for.

For the mangoes to fall.

Oh no.

I miss that life.

And you're going to send greetings to your mom?

Say hello to your mom.

Maura.

When I came from El Salvador...

I had three babies.

I was about 22 years old.

How was I going to keep them there?

The country was at war.

A single mother.

Only here I could help them.

I had to leave them.

Say hello to your mom.

Whenever I want to remember them...

I watch that movie.

I need to see you.

Before I die.

And your father is very sleepy.

Maura is starting to work.

We need help.

Because if I die...

Why are we going to leave these kids?

Send greetings to your mom.

Since 18 years ago...

I haven't been able to go see them.

Because I haven't had the papers to go see them.

Say hello to my mom.

Say hello.

See you soon.

Say hello.

Say hello.

See you soon.

He's failing.

I hope so.

I hope so.

I hope so.

I hope so.

The

In the first place, immigrants come to this country...

and we think that there are many jobs here.

But yes, there are many jobs.

They are exploitation jobs.

Then they do all the jobs like domestic workers, sewing,

the journalists, the janitors.

These are all the jobs that are badly paid and that are very, very forced,

that other people don't want to do.

But if you are undocumented and apart you don't know English,

you can't do any other kind of job.

You practically don't exist.

I'm telling you this because you were 13 years old.

When I arrived in El Salvador, I went looking for a job.

And that was the first thing I found, the job, the sewing.

Because there they don't ask you for papers or experience.

Look, there's a factory.

Look at the people working.

Don't look at their heads.

Here are also the labels of the factories where they put what they need.

What are they working on?

And how are they paying?

More or less.

We are the same here.

Here comes another one, look.

Here we all know each other.

Look, she works ironing too.

I am an ironing machine.

The ironing machine.

Another one.

Where do you work?

At the 3, but I am the old one.

Name.

Look, I am angry because they don't let you work at all.

And they say, if you don't like it, go away.

You get tired.

Well, you endure.

But one day they paid me almost nothing and they ran away.

I said, no, that's it.

If I'm not stealing, I'm working.

I got up on my feet and thank God I found help.

At the beginning, you feel a bit of shame because you are just meeting people.

You need two volunteers.

Someone who is a member and someone who is a new person.

Here I help you.

I tell you what your rights are.

It's a...

I don't know.

It's an independent and non -profit community center.

When I went to ask for help, there was nothing to say.

I felt scared and trembling.

We send these romances about what you should do during a holiday.

Like, what will happen? What will happen to me?

Let's see if there is any problem that will not happen.

I mean, put me in jail.

When you're a sewing worker and you have nowhere to go, it's like...

Many people think that undocumented people don't have rights,

that they don't have the right to work, but that's not true.