Although I grew up in southern Texas, where many illegal immigrants live and work, I was not aware of the severity of the exploitation of such workers, as depicted in ‘The Hand That Feeds’. Perhaps this is because abuse of labor is not as prevalent where I live, or perhaps it’s because not many spoke up about it. However, as I saw in the documentary, the abuse some workers endure because of their social status is definitely a concerning issue that more people should be aware of.

Although I was at first indifferent towards the issue, my feelings changed upon witnessing the human aspect of the issue as portrayed by the documentary. The film was mostly focused on the workplace and the workers’ efforts to better their situation, but it also followed some of the workers home. Although it should be obvious that such workers are normal people who have families to take care of back home, I felt a deeper sense of empathy upon actually seeing them living their normal lives outside of the workplace.

I think that this aspect of the issue is what the activists in the film were fighting for most. They weren’t trying to bring justice to the employers by enforcing the labor laws that the company were breaking, but they were instead fighting for the basic rights that the workers should’ve had as people.