THERMAL, CA - 1992 - Workers scale ladders on palm trees in a grove in Thermal

THERMAL, CA - 1992 - At the top of a tree a palmero holds his knife in his mouth as he walks on the fronds, pollinating a dates palm.

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA - 2017 - Jose Cruz Frias, a "palmero", works in a grove of date palms. He climbs the trees on a ladder, and once up in the tree he walks around on the fronds themselves. This is one of seven operations that must happen to the trees each year to get them to bear fruit. Cruz has been doing this work for 15 years. He originally came to the Coachella Valley from Irapuato, Guanajuato in Mexico.

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA - 2017 - During this phase of the work, Jose Cruz Frias sprays pollen from a small bottle onto the buds that will become the dates, and ties the bunch together with string. This is one of seven operations that must happen to the trees each year to get them to bear fruit.

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA - 2017 - Jose Cruz Frias, a "palmero", points to scars on his hand from the knife and the spines of the tree.

THERMAL, CA - 1992 - Pilar Sandoval ties together the stalks of pollinated buds that will eventually become the dates, at the top of a date palm.

THERMAL, CA - 2019 - Eduardo Gutierrez and Victor Perez pick dates on a mechanical hoist in a grove in the Coachella Valley. Workers in this crew are indigenous Purepecha immigrants from Ocomichu, Michoacan.

THERMAL, CA - 2010 - Ana Sanchez lives in the St. Anthony's Trailer Park near Thermal, in the desert in Coachella Valley. The water supply of the park is contaminated, and Sanchez and the other residents have to get their drinking water from a tank.

THERMAL, CA - 2010 - Trailers in the St. Anthony's Trailer Park near Thermal, in the desert.

CIEN PALMAS, CA - 2012 - A trailer home of "palmeros" - immigrant farm workers who work in the date palms - in the Sunbird trailer park in the Coachella Valley.

MECCA, CA - 1992 - The home of several immigrant Mexican farm worker families in the desert outside of Mecca, in California's Coachella Valley.

OASIS, CA - 2012 - A trailer home for immigrant farm workers next to a field in the Coachella Valley.

THERMAL, CA - 2017 - Alberto Castro works as a "palmero", in the date palm groves of Coachella Valley, and has worked over 15 years in the trees. After work he sits in the shade of the trailer where he lives in a trailer park near Thermal. He holds the safety harness he is supposed to use when working, but it restricts his ability to work quickly, and he is paid by the piece rate, so he often doesn't use it.

THERMAL, CA - 2017 - Carlos Chavez works as a "palmero", and has worked over 20 years in the trees. After work he sits in the shade of his trailer with his daughter Michelle. Michelle is in high school, trying to win a scholarship so she can go to college. Carlos took her to work with him one summer, but she didn't like it, and says it motivated her to study harder.

OASIS, CA - 1992 - Three girls from farm worker families, waiting for the school bus.

THERMAL, CA - 2010 - Children in the St. Anthony's Trailer Park, in the desert in Coachella Valley.

MECCA, CA - 2012 - Rafael and Ricardo Lopez work picking grapes in the Coachella Valley, and live in their van in a parking lot during the harvest.

MECCA, CA - 1992 - Unemployed men sit and talk near the Mecca supermarket parking lot, next to a trailer park.

CIEN PALMAS, CA - 2010 - Meregildo Ortiz (l) is the president of the Purepecha community in the Coachella Valley. Purepechas are the main indigenous group in the Mexican state of Michoacan, and many live in the trailer camps in the desert near the Salton Sea. They work as farm workers in the fields of the Coachella Valley. Next to him are Max Ortiz and Julian Benito.

COACHELLA, CA - 2017 - Arturo Cordoba, an artist in the Desert View Mobile Home Park, outlines lettering he will carve into a wood plaque.

THERMAL, CA - 2010 - Members of the Purepecha community in the Coachella Valley gather at night to rehearse the Danza de Los Ancianos (the Dance of the Old People), preparing to perform it during a procession celebrating the Virgin de Guadalupe. This is also an opportunity to teach young people the dance and music traditions of the community.

THERMAL, CA - 2017 - The hands of Carlos Chavez, a "palmero", show the lines and creases of 20 years of hard work in the date palms.