Maid in America

Some 100,000 female domestic workers live in Los Angeles, many of them undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, and other South and Central American countries. Employed as maids and nannies, these women earn as little as five dollars per hour, which is still more than they could hope to earn back home. Many have made sacrifices, leaving husbands and children at home, and it's often years before they can rejoin their families. Remarkably free of polemics, Anayansi Prado's Maid in America is a humane, low-key documentary offering intimate portraits of several of these women. One wants to study computers, improve her English, and use housecleaning as a stepping stone to realizing the American Dream. Another simply wants to send money back home to support her family. In addition, the program looks at the bonding process between nannies (who often feel guilty about neglecting their own children) and their American charges, as well as the fact that some domestic workers have begun to network, turning to each other for mutual support and to discuss concerns about working conditions, the lack of health insurance, employee exploitation, and abuse. California has even declared a "Domestic Worker Day." While hardly a rosy picture (one worker must abandon her dream and return to Guatemala), this documentary suggests that things aren't entirely bleak, while also highlighting an all too often neglected aspect of the immigrant issue. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)