‘East of Salinas’ Profiles an Undocumented 8-Year-Old Math Whiz

*This Independent Lens documentary airs December 28th on PBS. It’s about the 8 year-old son of migrant farm workers who happens to also be a gifted math whiz. VL

By Andrew S. Vargas, Remezcla

What this inspirational feature might teach the Donald [Trump} is that Mexican immigrants also bring young math whizzes with them across the border – in this case a gifted, Mexican-born 8-year-old boy by the name of José Ansaldo. Filmmakers Laura Pacheco and Jackie Mow followed this young son of migrant farmworkers living in the iconic Salinas Valley over the course of three years, documenting his struggles with the instability of life as an undocumented family living on the edge of the economic abyss. Despite his mother and stepfather’s inability to speak English, Ansaldo takes to his studies and demonstrates an extraordinary knack for mathematics, a gift which is nurtured by a well-meaning teacher who also happens to be the son of migrant farmworkers.

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