[GALLERY:1]
Undocumented workers comprise 10% of California’s workforce. Though an expansion of COVID-19 relief cleared Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget, these vulnerable people are still working at risk of exposure while waiting in limbo for assistance. The pandemic adds a burden to everyone’s life, but it disproportionately impacts Latino communities. Elijah Hurwitz, a Los Angeles-based photographer, reveals how one young man on the margins is adapting to the weight of his heavier load.
Marlon (last name withheld to protect his identity) is an Indigenous K’ich’e man who fled the violence in Guatemala many years ago, traveling to the United States atop the dangerous freight train from Southern Mexico known as “La Bestia” (“The Beast”). Marlon came seeking a better life and the opportunity to support his family at home. A spiritual man who rises at 5 a.m. several times a week to train for marathons, Marlon was laid off from his job at a barbershop this spring soon after Los Angeles went into lockdown. With rent and bills to pay and his family in Guatemala counting on his remittances, he began making house calls to cut hair and selling masks on a busy street corner.
“I only want to work. I want to give my best.”
“I only want to work,” he says. “I want to give my best. I’m not stealing. I’m not doing things to hurt other people.”
Hurwitz’s photos offer an intimate look at someone without a safety net or the luxury of social distancing or working from home while trying to survive in a largely unforgiving economy. This is Marlon’s story, but it is also the story of too many undocumented men and women in America.
Elijah Hurwitz is an independent photographer based in Mount Washington, Los Angeles. He is pulled towards covering underreported stories on a range of issues that might help sharpen understanding. You can see his work at elijahsol.com and on Instagram. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Without a net.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
