50-mile rule uproots immigrant children living in seasonal farmworker housing in California
This December, thousands of migrant farmworker children are making their annual trek to new schools in California.
During growing season, their parents rent low-cost housing in federally subsidized labor camps, but state rules mandate that families move at least 50 miles away when the camps close for the winter.
San Jose-based nonprofit human rights organization Human Agenda says eventually about 90 percent of kids living in seasonal worker housing drop out of school.
A state lawmaker this year tried to change the 50-mile rule, but the bill died in committee.
And so for thousands of migrant kids this winter, the cycle continues.